tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20834087615481330922018-04-10T08:08:04.612-04:00The Women of Animated FilmA collection of my interviews with women who work in the field of Animation covering their personal history, views on animation, and advice for women who would like to become animators.Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-61128991797696015592018-03-31T00:00:00.000-04:002018-04-01T03:44:54.703-04:00Women of Animation: Lotte's DeskLife is full of adventures... if you know where to look.<br /><br />I had heard from a friend of mine, Lynn Dana Wilton, that the Toronto Animated Image Society had acquired a light table used by Lotte Reiniger to produce her films during her short stay in Canada back in the 1970's (though Lotte called them "trick-tables").<br /><br />Questions abounded: was this the desk that she used at the NFB? If so, did the NFB give it to TAIS, and if so, how did that come about? What did the desk look like? Did she have it built from one of her previous designs? Or from the diagrams in her book Shadow Theaters and Shadow Films?&nbsp;And most importantly, during Lynn's upcoming silhouette animation workshop, would I be allowed access to the desk in order&nbsp;to take photos and measurements?<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U_YX67-OVd4/WsBcymmBgaI/AAAAAAAACRg/WnFI7rPDY2kAlVS-l6msVyD1GLO1l3MfwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/CN%2BTower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U_YX67-OVd4/WsBcymmBgaI/AAAAAAAACRg/WnFI7rPDY2kAlVS-l6msVyD1GLO1l3MfwCK4BGAYYCw/s320/CN%2BTower.jpg" width="240" /></a>Well, the only way to find the answers to my questions was to go there. So I registered for the event, gathered up my gear, made arrangements for lodging in Toronto, and drove to Ontario for the weekend.<br /><br />Lotte Reiniger produced two films when she was in Canada. The first was <em>Aucassin and Nicolette</em>, which she created for the National Film Board of Canada. The second was <em>The Rose and the Ring, </em>produced for Gordon Martin and Associates Limited and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.<br /><br />This was the&nbsp;trick-table&nbsp;created for Lotte and that which she used to create <em>The Rose and the Ring</em>.<br /><br />When I arrived at TAIS's production facility on Dufferin Street, Lynn escorted me back to Lotte's trick-table. She and I agreed that day: Lotte’s trick-table is both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time.<br /><br />It's underwhelming because it doesn’t look like anything special at first glance. But if you know the history of who it was built for, it leaves you standing there with a sense of awe. Lynn joked about how she was expecting little animation faeries flying around the trick-table. Personally, at the very least I was expecting a golden plaque with the words “Lotte Reiniger animated here” emblazoned on the side.<br /><br />But there it was, and there we were. Face to table with a part of animation history.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0hnyiS5WXE/WsBeqDxSfSI/AAAAAAAACRs/Ln8z0xuRbJEH0Nw_a_gGrJk5YlMrPrMUACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Trick-Table1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B0hnyiS5WXE/WsBeqDxSfSI/AAAAAAAACRs/Ln8z0xuRbJEH0Nw_a_gGrJk5YlMrPrMUACK4BGAYYCw/s400/Trick-Table1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lotte Reiniger's Trick-Table</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It wouldn't be until later that Lynn would introduce me to the table's previous owner: Jonathan Culp. Though it was over the internet, I had the pleasure of talking with him. Jonathan patiently fielded all of my questions regarding the table.<br /><br />What he told me was how his grandfather, Donald Carman of Carman Educational Associates was one of the main people in bringing Lotte to the National Film Board of Canada back in the 1970's. Although, it was one of the producers of Lotte's two films, Gordon Martin, who had the table built for Lotte. Gordon was also a family friend of Jonathan's. And before they died, Gordon and his wife Patricia gave the trick-table to Jonathan. Patricia herself was an animation assistant on Lotte's film <em>the Rose and the Ring</em> and she created her own silhouette animation on the trick-table, titled the <em>Princess and the Pig Boy</em>. Though he didn't know for sure, he believes that the trick-table was built by the Martin family--however he's going to ask one of the Martin's children for more details in the not too distant future.<br /><br />Well, Jonathan, being a member of TAIS, generously donated Lotte's table to the organization.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEIkTIcoQvc/WsBiHn2al2I/AAAAAAAACR4/qF_NYrYwxhsSDd--N9WXy_XXMoESTLskgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/trick-table2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZEIkTIcoQvc/WsBiHn2al2I/AAAAAAAACR4/qF_NYrYwxhsSDd--N9WXy_XXMoESTLskgCK4BGAYYCw/s400/trick-table2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Lotte Animated Here"</td></tr></tbody></table><br />And there it sits. A piece of animation history that has been given a new life with a new generation of animators using it to create their films…<br /><br />While everyone else was making their silhouette puppets--and during my turn to animate on the table--I was crawling all over Lotte's trick-table with a camera and a couple of tape measures, taking photographs and making sketches, measurements, and designs of her trick-table... my intention being for it to be the subject of a future blog post.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JEpDT0Z7Pc8/WsBinHw2AHI/AAAAAAAACSE/Z_Zk0W2hi-k3FQ_1Pm0lEamTOuPFYVfygCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/trick-table3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JEpDT0Z7Pc8/WsBinHw2AHI/AAAAAAAACSE/Z_Zk0W2hi-k3FQ_1Pm0lEamTOuPFYVfygCK4BGAYYCw/s400/trick-table3.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />Well, rather than put together an elaborate puppet with hinged joints, I've had visions of PES's deep sea animation running through my head, so I decided to do a little substitution animation instead of using a fully-jointed silhouette puppet. That and I wanted to spend more time sketching and measuring the table.<br /><br /><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t8vI2c88VZc" width="445"></iframe> <br /><br />After I left the studio that evening, I already had future plans running through my head.<br /><br />Membership at the Toronto Animated Image Society, a Studio Membership, costs $50 Canadian per year. But with this membership level, it offers you the perk that you can rent their studio facilities to work on your own films. In this case: the "Lotte" Studio which costs $20 per day.<br /><br />I’ve already planned a return trip to Toronto in the Fall. And as I’m a member of TAIS, I can rent Lotte’s trick-table for the day for the measly sum of $20 Canadian.<br /><br />Life is full of adventures... if you know where to look.<br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-142832032408435452018-03-27T00:00:00.000-04:002018-03-27T20:45:26.176-04:00Women of Animation: Want to know more?At this time, I would be remiss if I didn't take this opportunity to point out two resources for news about Women animators:<br /><br />﻿<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xgLBxd0oCYc/Wrrjk64tS5I/AAAAAAAACRE/lIkJWjUZEIEhMhvsEEgd0XL786x5HdDigCLcBGAs/s1600/women%2Bof%2Banimated%2Bfilm%2BFB%2Bscreenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="711" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xgLBxd0oCYc/Wrrjk64tS5I/AAAAAAAACRE/lIkJWjUZEIEhMhvsEEgd0XL786x5HdDigCLcBGAs/s400/women%2Bof%2Banimated%2Bfilm%2BFB%2Bscreenshot.jpg" width="366" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/WomenAnimators">www.facebook.com/WomenAnimators</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong>One: </strong>My Women of Animated Film Facebook page.<br /><br />There's&nbsp;so much information out there from so many sources that it's impossible to repost it on blogs. So instead, I use a Facebook page as a 'women animators' news aggregate. If you're on Facebook, check out my page: The Women of Animated Film (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WomenAnimators/">https://www.facebook.com/WomenAnimators/</a>). <br /><br />I follow a lot of animation&nbsp;news sites,&nbsp;individual women animators, and crowdfunding campaigns. And when&nbsp;something women animator-related comes across my news feed, I'll repost it on Facebook. So if you're looking for more up-to-date info, please feel free to visit, like, and subscribe.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5LoyPbNS4sc/Wrrjk3mtdII/AAAAAAAACRI/nZHWyyJRQ34YN_Uk_0asGevIATjdUkDCwCEwYBhgL/s1600/women%2Bof%2Banimated%2Bfilm%2Bblog%2Bscreenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="895" height="382" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5LoyPbNS4sc/Wrrjk3mtdII/AAAAAAAACRI/nZHWyyJRQ34YN_Uk_0asGevIATjdUkDCwCEwYBhgL/s400/women%2Bof%2Banimated%2Bfilm%2Bblog%2Bscreenshot.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.womenanimators.info/">www.womenanimators.info</a></td></tr></tbody></table><strong></strong><br /><strong>Two:</strong> My Women of Animated Film blog site.<br /><br />Rather than force people to sift through months upon months of my mad rambling about animation over on my Smudge Animation blog, I've created a repository blog&nbsp;filled with the interviews I've conducted (and some other posts I've found interesting enough to talk about). That way, you don't have to go sifting through years of my mad rambling about animation and pictures of butterflies to find the interviews that you want to&nbsp;read and share with future animators.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-57902462246847050982018-03-20T00:00:00.000-04:002018-03-20T00:00:10.111-04:00Women of Animation: Catherine and Sarah Satrun, Part 3Well, I can't go any further with this interview without showing Catherine and Sarah's full animation demo reel which showcases the wide range of their character animation experience.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PpCTH6TmL1k" width="445"></iframe><br /></div><br />However, I would be remiss if I didn't point readers to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/catherinesatrun" target="_blank">Catherine</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/sketchy02" target="_blank">Sarah's</a> individual YouTube accounts where you can view some of their older works, including student films. The Satrun Sisters have done us a great service by uploading and displaying many of their experimental works, like Catherine's film <a href="https://youtu.be/cJXoOPpWApo" target="_blank"><em>Clouds</em></a> and Sarah's film <a href="https://youtu.be/LnE-DQWNpfI" target="_blank"><em>Red</em></a>. These are films where we can see them working with experimental techniques and physical media, work that feeds the experimental spirit that influences their more recent computer animation work like <em>Mearra</em>.<br /><br />I'd also like to point out that this part of the interview took a very unique turn. Both Catherine and Sarah made some very poignant statements on what it's like being a woman working in the animation industry as well as how it's slowly changing--for them and the industry. They've shared with us a couple stories about some struggles that they have experienced within the industry over the past twelve years and what they've learned from such experiences.<br /><br />Our final visit with the Satrun Sisters begins thusly:<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Given that the industry is now so heavily integrated with computer technology, how important do the two of you think it is (if at all) for students of animation to learn classical techniques and non-computer animation styles? <br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Well, personally, we're of the viewpoint that it's good to have that traditional foundation. I know a lot of students just jump right into the computers, on the computer side...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> When students just learn the software, then their work is often stiff because they're only learning the program and they don't have a foundation in art. You really need a foundation learning the basics like the drawing--especially figure drawing--and stop-motion, paint-on-glass animation all of that "alternative animation" that's really freeing. <br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Yeah, it helps you think differently, and also, personally, when we did the alternative strategies of animation, when we did that class where we learned paint animation, sand animation, scratch on film, all of those techniques, that was more freeing and it loosened us up. It was more about the arts. It was just that mindset that suddenly frees your mind for experimentation and just thinking outside the box and thinking differently. So you can take those skills--what you learned from that, even if you just briefly touch on that little thing--people who do CG and motion graphics, they can take what they learned from that to think differently and approach a project in a different way that they may not have thought about earlier and to maybe try different visual styles too that can be inspired from it. <br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Also then with just drawing in general that helps... y'know, even if you're in computers you want to still be able to sketch out your storyboards and designs to present them to others and to communicate ideas and just to have better art and design skills. Color and composition are also really important to learn because you need to know how to make the animation appealing to look at, even if it's just text and logos.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-925cXgnfQGc/WnVUMJn0vEI/AAAAAAAACL0/g5Y8W3jkS2QkjsOWdyQJ_t1jBefQIUgoQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_9846%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-925cXgnfQGc/WnVUMJn0vEI/AAAAAAAACL0/g5Y8W3jkS2QkjsOWdyQJ_t1jBefQIUgoQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_9846%255B1%255D.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/179468177/three-mermaids-11x14?ref=shop_home_active_39" target="_blank">Three Mermaids</a> and Mermaid<br /><em>(From the interviewer's private collection)</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong>CW:</strong> It terms of women working in the field of animation, what do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation? <br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Personally, things have probably changed over the years, but when we went to school, definitely in college and into our careers too we definitely found out that there were very few women. Per animation class, there was maybe one to three of us total for animation. And if there were three it felt like a lot. And even still currently in the industry from our personal experience there's very, very few women and then even--Catherine on one of your freelance jobs...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Yeah, maybe around eight years ago or so. A freelance job at one company, there was no other female animators and I was just brought in for one week. So it was really weird because I had to work extra hard to prove myself. The only other women working there were more high maintenance types who took lunch orders and checked in on people. I didn't like the atmosphere of that job at all. Glad it was only for a week! A lot of time you witness that it's a guys world in a lot of companies. But I think that things are changing.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> And you have to work extra hard to prove yourself.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> And I've heard that offhanded from other friends who've worked outside of Chicago in other bigger studios that they say that the women there can't make any mistakes--They have to work extra hard to show that they can do the job, so that's still happening, unfortunately. So that's what we've heard. On our first day, on one of our jobs, a guy was explaining animation to us. He was explaining it!<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> He was flipping through the pages going "this is an-i-ma-tion".<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Did he even know who the two of you were or what you were there for?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Yeah, yeah, yeah! We were being introduced like we were starting, kind of thing, so... but he was still talking down to us. And then we come across a lot of attitudes of like 'oh you can't do it' or 'I'm not going to help you out' and 'you can't do it as well. <br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> I don't know if this is true, but we recently heard in animation departments it's about half women and half men. I think now it's changed a lot. But we also work from home a ton more, now that things are all digital. We're outside of the studios, so we're not experiencing anything first-hand anymore. <br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> We haven't personally had issues with that in a long time.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Given how the industry is still changing, yet in the past wasn't the most welcoming place for women, if your daughters said that they wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give them?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Honestly, it would be "just work hard" is the biggest thing. You've got to really work for what you want...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Work hard, be passionate about it. Just dedicate yourself to it and make it happen...<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Be well rounded. Have other skillsets... as a backup [laughs]...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Have your specialty skill, like your niche, but have other skills that offset it. So if your [specialty] skill is character animation make sure you have strong skills on the preproduction side of it too...<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Storyboarding, motion graphics. Any other skills you can acquire.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> You pick up these other job skills as you go through, so just being more well rounded especially in college before you get out. Make sure you have enough skills to survive in this industry and build up your confidence too, because having confidence is very difficult for a lot of people.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YUi4gQbccJs/WnVWMlzI8eI/AAAAAAAACMA/0cdRDpgbLpUyGNaOV9moTJZeuFo9sDiCwCLcBGAs/s1600/Supermom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="570" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YUi4gQbccJs/WnVWMlzI8eI/AAAAAAAACMA/0cdRDpgbLpUyGNaOV9moTJZeuFo9sDiCwCLcBGAs/s400/Supermom.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/223898019/supermom-11x17?ref=shop_home_active_41" target="_blank">Supermom!</a></td></tr></tbody></table><strong></strong><br /><strong>CW:</strong> What do you think is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> What I just mentioned about the confidence. I think parents and teachers can really help their daughters and students to have that confidence to stand up for themselves and if that's what their passion is then go for it and don't listen to people who say you can't do it.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> And then speaking to that I would say like--it was a lot of times through schooling from authority figures, say you're interested in art, everyone's like "oh?" And they kind of scoff at it like: "oh, what can you do with that?" Or, "can you really have a career or job with that?" And even now people are "oh can you really actually do that?" No one thinks that it's possible.<br /><br />Someone recently scoffed at it when we told them what we do. I don't remember the scenario but, it was weird. I think confidence is really important and telling people if you put your mind to it, you can do it. You just need more examples of women in industry as role models, pointing out people who are making it, that would be a big difference and good confidence boost to show you what you can achieve.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> The role model thing is very important. You need women role models. And giving them education, a solid foundation. As soon as they can, take some drawing classes. For example, we took a drawing class at the park district when we were in grade school. All it was, was just copying drawings, but that still improved our skills.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> At a young age, even copying drawings helped us learn to measure with our eyes to draw what we saw. That was really beneficial, having that encouragement when we were that young to be like 'oh look they are interested in art lets enroll them in some extra classes' and then we did that for a while. And that was very beneficial. So I would suggest doing that, extra classes...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> I would suggest to take any extra classes you could find anywhere. And then as they get older, like in high school and stuff, you can see if there are summer classes. We did a summer high school workshop at Columbia College.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> We were able to do the high school workshop right between, like right after we graduated and before we started our Junior College. But because we hadn't started college yet, we were able to do the high school workshop and then that helped, that was fantastic because we got to...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> It was our first animation class...<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Yeah, it was our first animation class. And then we wanted to say "yeah we love it and it's not just a hobby to us. We realized, "We can do this."<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> It's a passion and it's a career field that you actually want to go in to. Test it out before enrolling into the entire curriculum.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Yeah.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> I always tell students to get a stack of 3x5 notecards and just draw. Make a 30 second film. Or even a ten-second film. And usually that'll weed out a lot of kids. Just doing something as simple as a ball bouncing, it's like "well it takes this much work... I don't know if I want to do this."<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Exactly, it's not for everyone and you gotta know, you gotta figure it out early on before you go through the whole program.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Especially in animation. I feel like there's a lot of people who are more fans of it than, like, dedicated artists. So, you have to have a very strong work ethic otherwise you won't succeed.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Those people who have a very strong work ethic who are passionate about it, they make it further than other people who it might more just be a fan or a hobby.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Parents need to see where their child falls in that. They need to encourage them, not just in art, but in all of your school subjects. You've gotta work hard and show that drive to do as best as you can. I think that is very important, that's down to the core of how hard of a worker you are. You have to have a strong work ethic to get through life.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-47d7aAscXzA/WlRPDRCQ6aI/AAAAAAAACJ0/rfOuKHQStWwGuuof-IUZFYcMCshMRBsdwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/21370967_1642006915829823_104033463672339901_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-47d7aAscXzA/WlRPDRCQ6aI/AAAAAAAACJ0/rfOuKHQStWwGuuof-IUZFYcMCshMRBsdwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/21370967_1642006915829823_104033463672339901_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/550290097/bedtime-fox-8x10?ref=shop_home_active_10" target="_blank">Bedtime Fox</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">﻿</div><br /><!-- And with that last bit of hard earned wisdom from the Satrun Sisters, we leave the Midwest and head to the East Coast. Check back next week for my interview with Pilar Newton-Katz -->Thanks again to Sarah and Catherine for taking the time to share their experiences and history with us.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><ul><li><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Portrait photo, artwork, and animations copyright Catherine and Sarah Satrun, used with permission.</span></div></li><li><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Interview edited for length and clarity.</span></div></li></ul>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-75500377472679430102018-03-16T00:00:00.000-04:002018-03-16T00:00:16.959-04:00Women of Animation: Perks and SwagOne of the cool things about supporting animators (on Crowdfunding sites and thru their website stores) is the wonderful swag you can get. Yes, yes, I know: "virtue is its own reward" and we should be supporting these animators regardless of perks and rewards. But that doesn't change the fact that above and beyond the reward for being altruistic, the perks can be pretty cool!<br /><br />So, I'd like to share some pictures of the wonderful products I've purchased, rewards I've been presented with, and gifts I've been given during my time supporting women animators. <br /><br /><strong>Signe Baumane</strong>: Water spirit drawing/cel from <em>Rocks in my Pockets</em><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G0F2ZjCy_ec/WqWTgoK5UHI/AAAAAAAACOY/VePRKAlspZkRvqWYuV3zN2qYxBrXfgHfgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G0F2ZjCy_ec/WqWTgoK5UHI/AAAAAAAACOY/VePRKAlspZkRvqWYuV3zN2qYxBrXfgHfgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0559.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The "water spirit" from <em>Rocks in my Pockets</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Back when Signe and her producer, Sturgis Warner, were taking <em><a href="https://www.rocksinmypocketsmovie.com/" target="_blank">Rocks in my Pockets</a></em> on tour, the closest it was going to screen to my hometown was Chicago. So, I enlisted a pair of friends who were familiar with the area and we made the five-hour drive to the windy city for a day of Chicago-style pizza and animation. I was already going to receive the DVD of her feature as a Kickstarter reward, but having seen sneak peeks at other venues, I really wanted to see her film in a large scale format. Well, Signe was floored that we made the ten hour round-trip drive to see her film. As a special 'thank you' for supporting her film, Signe gifted me a drawing from <em><a href="https://www.rocksinmypocketsmovie.com/" target="_blank">Rocks in my Pockets</a></em>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><strong>Joanna Priestley</strong>: framed "cel" from her film <em>All My Relations</em><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejaijCAil6w/WqWMlUUAiOI/AAAAAAAACNo/vPtm4QyFeCY9-E1kej_AadvNoWly2ZKBwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0558.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ejaijCAil6w/WqWMlUUAiOI/AAAAAAAACNo/vPtm4QyFeCY9-E1kej_AadvNoWly2ZKBwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0558.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paper cel from <em>All My Relations</em></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In 2016, I was working on my history of women animators class for Huntington University. One of the most fun aspects of the class for me personally was expanding my research by hunting down lots of DVDs. Many of these films I had seen in the past during my college classes or at festivals, but if you're going to teach a subject, it's really best to refresh your memories. One such purchase was the latest compilation DVD from <a href="https://www.joannapriestley.com/" target="_blank">Joanna Priestley</a>. For supporting her work, Joanna was kind enough to include an original production "cel" from her film <em>All My Relations</em>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><strong>Samantha Inoue-Harte</strong>: 'Stitch' print<br /><br />Also back in 2016, Samantha made a return trip to Michigan's own Alma Con. Well, for this visit, she brought a bunch of Lilo and Stitch artwork that she had produced for the House of Mouse. Sami had obtained a license from Disney to produce a limited number of these prints and sell them as a fundraiser for cancer research, to which she donated all the proceeds. Well, I really like Lilo and Stitch... and Sami... and it's for a good cause, so...<br /><br />Now due to peculiarities of licensing, I can't post an image of the print, but suffice it to say, when you have the chance to support someone who is promoting a worthy cause, you take the opportunity to help out if you can. :)<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><strong>Satrun Sisters</strong>: Fairy Sleep print<br />﻿<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_DJSds_0d0/WqWV7pRaPRI/AAAAAAAACOw/5SZqmEGGGOgY-UAlC8Ksybepn02ffGXSwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0572.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T_DJSds_0d0/WqWV7pRaPRI/AAAAAAAACOw/5SZqmEGGGOgY-UAlC8Ksybepn02ffGXSwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0572.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Fairy Sleep</em> by Sarah Satrun</td></tr></tbody></table><br>This was the first print that I purchased from the <a href="http://www.sketchyduo.com/" target="_blank">Satrun Sisters</a>--the full story of which was printed earlier this week in part two of the Satrun Sisters' interview. A short while later, they visited the Grand Rapids Comic Con and I couldn't resist picking up two of their framed mermaid prints that would go along nicely with the fantasy art theme in one of my rooms.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2HlWNj9LAEM/WqXXglbHCoI/AAAAAAAACPQ/kmrzFQxNmcgrk2ZfqguHBRziFbeHQ4gkwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2HlWNj9LAEM/WqXXglbHCoI/AAAAAAAACPQ/kmrzFQxNmcgrk2ZfqguHBRziFbeHQ4gkwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0577.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mermaid prints by Sarah Satrun</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><strong>Jessica Borutski</strong> - Foolish Kingdom t-shirt/Canadian Crest t-shirt<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ss6G0KDZWI/WqWWof6vFTI/AAAAAAAACO4/sdBOeqBh0RUn1qe88-i2xmFGAb-KkyxFACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0574.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1283" data-original-width="1600" height="256" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7ss6G0KDZWI/WqWWof6vFTI/AAAAAAAACO4/sdBOeqBh0RUn1qe88-i2xmFGAb-KkyxFACLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0574.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Foolish Kingdom</em> by Jessica Borutski</td></tr></tbody></table><BR>Having been a fan of Jessica's work for years, when she started selling t-shirts with her delightfully subversive bunny on her website <a href="http://www.foolishkingdom.com/" target="_blank">Foolish Kingdom</a>, I had to have one!<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KT4hgLgYXYQ/WqWWonWsbBI/AAAAAAAACO8/3vGRX-EYdqUbRTd28vFdUpwh3VjZFzwxgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0575.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1489" data-original-width="1600" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KT4hgLgYXYQ/WqWWonWsbBI/AAAAAAAACO8/3vGRX-EYdqUbRTd28vFdUpwh3VjZFzwxgCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0575.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Canadian Crest</em> by Jessica Borutski</td></tr></tbody></table>Jessica was also one of the first women I interviewed for this blog. For years afterwards, I'd see her at the festivals and say "hi" but I never had an opportunity to say "thank you for the interview" in a more tangible way until the summer of 2014 where she had an artist's table at TAAFI. So I was able to support her by purchasing one of her Canadian crest t-shirts. It never ceases to get a laugh and positive comments whenever I wear it.<br /><br />Additionally, on Jessy's website <a href="http://www.foolishkingdom.com/fun-to-print/" target="_blank">Foolish Kingdom</a>, she released paper cut-out dolls of her characters. So far, I've only got the <em>I like pandas</em> figures printed and assembled. But the mole and bunny from <em>The Good Little Bunny with the Big Bad Teeth</em> are on my list of things to do on a rainy day.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FzK6pw9gHS8/WqXhgChrHLI/AAAAAAAACPg/43RaiBfrYJgG1YaSZnp0kooTSLuyKifiwCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0578.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Panda 2 and Panda 1</td></tr></tbody></table><BR><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><strong>Monica Brujenes</strong>: Penguin &amp; Peep Kickstarter rewards<br /><br />﻿<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OcTMnBOpxdY/WqXkrCt99mI/AAAAAAAACQQ/jlwh_5E261srSR_QgvBLT8cNJ7CfygO1ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0566%2Bgood%2B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1586" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OcTMnBOpxdY/WqXkrCt99mI/AAAAAAAACQQ/jlwh_5E261srSR_QgvBLT8cNJ7CfygO1ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0566%2Bgood%2B3.JPG" width="396" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Penguin &amp; Peep! Little Moments</em> by Monica Brujenes</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The last animator I'll showcase is ASIFA Central's own <a href="http://www.artistmonica.com/" target="_blank">Monica Brujenes</a>. A year ago, Monica hosted a crowdfunding campaign to produce a cartoon book called <em>Little Moments</em> featuring her original characters Penguin and Peep. Some of the rewards you could get as part of this campaign included Penguin &amp; Peep stickers, original hand painted art:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ql2HKkFQbzU/WqXl7GYWz6I/AAAAAAAACQc/Rg9EW1oUHX0Mthc6OGSm-q0wOsDDBTwhACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ql2HKkFQbzU/WqXl7GYWz6I/AAAAAAAACQc/Rg9EW1oUHX0Mthc6OGSm-q0wOsDDBTwhACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0561.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penguin &amp; Peep painting by Monica Brujenes</td></tr></tbody></table><br />exclusive prints: <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NZgYQ0ihmss/WqXmaKL9X0I/AAAAAAAACQo/04reK9ERz5ACtQEgEvkk_K8MrsySIbs7wCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0568.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NZgYQ0ihmss/WqXmaKL9X0I/AAAAAAAACQo/04reK9ERz5ACtQEgEvkk_K8MrsySIbs7wCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0568.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exclusive Print by Monica Brujenes</td></tr></tbody></table><br />and original autographed drawings in our copies of <em>Little Moments</em>.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVCJraqLau4/WqXlotNDB3I/AAAAAAAACQY/JLEtsVQA6esIVZPe6u52m7jd6VE8aZd3ACLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UVCJraqLau4/WqXlotNDB3I/AAAAAAAACQY/JLEtsVQA6esIVZPe6u52m7jd6VE8aZd3ACLcBGAs/s400/IMG_0567.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Penguin &amp; Peep ink drawing by Monica Brujenes</td></tr></tbody></table><br />As I alluded to at the start of this article, yes we should be supporting women animators regardless of the perks--but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the art that they create and make it a part of our lives. If you've clicked on any of the hyperlinks, you've been taken to these talented ladies' websites where you can support their work yourself. Regardless, I hope that in the future, you will all find a woman animator whose work resonates with you. And if you have the resources, take the time to support them financially. Every little bit of encouragement helps them as they produce their films.<br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-2416347049641390532018-03-13T00:00:00.000-04:002018-03-13T01:13:39.438-04:00Women of Animation: Catherine and Sarah Satrun, Part 2I like faeries.<br /><br />Maybe it's because of my mixed Irish/Scottish heritage. Maybe it's from having the 'Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy' segment of <em>Fantasia</em>&nbsp;being one of my earliest memories. But for whatever reason, and however you spell it, I've always liked fairys. So when the Satrun sisters offered a print with a visual style that reminded me of those early Disney and Don Bluth films, I had to own it.<br /><br />Well, after the Post Office mangled the print, the three of us played e-mail tag as I sent them pictures of the crumpled package so they could get a refund from the Post Office and they sent me a replacement copy of the print--all the while&nbsp;being totally&nbsp;confused about&nbsp;which Satrun sister I was speaking to at any given time. A year or so later, I was finally able to meet them in person at the Grand Rapids Comicon... and I still got them mixed up. The phone interview months later didn't go any better. During the interview, I would ask a question and they would both answer while finishing each others thoughts. Needless to say, with their boundless enthusiasm and bubbly personalities, talking to Catherine and Sarah was easily&nbsp;the most fun I've had conducting an&nbsp;interview since starting this project! So I hope you'll enjoy part two of my conversation with the Satrun sisters as much as I did.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7jECkzKjrpE/WlRN__yQfyI/AAAAAAAACJQ/rtsXXCvm7uYXzFH2VnyLma6IR1ZaH5oCwCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/1467416_678235132207011_538672186_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7jECkzKjrpE/WlRN__yQfyI/AAAAAAAACJQ/rtsXXCvm7uYXzFH2VnyLma6IR1ZaH5oCwCK4BGAYYCw/s400/1467416_678235132207011_538672186_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/170736267/fairy-slumber?ref=shop_home_active_80" target="_blank">Fairy Slumber</a>"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong>CW:</strong> What's the industry like for animators in the Chicago area? To the best of my research, <a href="http://calabashanimation.com/" target="_blank">Calabash</a> [Animation] is the only major studio out there.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> For character animation yeah pretty much and hand drawn type of 2d stuff, yeah, <a href="http://calabashanimation.com/" target="_blank">Calabash</a> is pretty much it unless you do game animation or other more like corporate kinds of things. Like in terms of what we do, that little niche, it's basically just <a href="http://calabashanimation.com/" target="_blank">Calabash</a>, that we know of. <br /><br />Lately, we have been doing more corporate jobs, which is nice because we are doing a lot more storyboarding, character design, animatics, animation- The whole process! It's fun. Rather than just a few short scenes in a commercial. It's good to have a mix of different kinds of projects.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> As you've worked for studios and as independents, which do you prefer?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> They both have their advantages and disadvantages, so that's a tough one to answer. Working in a studio is nice because you have your one roll to do and don't have to worry about other things like the business side and meetings. Working as an independent for corporate jobs has been fulfilling because it's more hands on, and we have a lot more responsibility. I like the creation process from beginning to end.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Why did you two decide to work together as a duo as opposed to going your own way in the industry? Do you have skillsets that balance each other out? Is it a clever marketing strategy?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> No, I feel like we're pretty even, and we sharpen each other's skills. When we work, because we both are always critiquing each other, we both go over, we overlap our work part of the time... How would you explain it?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> If one of us is stuck on something or tired of looking at a scene, the other can look with a fresh eye and point out how to improve it. That's important when you're working from home and don't have other coworkers in the same room.<br /><br />It's really good, again because animation, it's all about teamwork. It's just natural. We never decided "we're going to work together" we never made that decision it just happened. Actually, as we've gone on we've found that it's common. There are other twins in the industry.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Starting even in school, in art school, before going to Columbia college when were at Joliet Junior College getting our Associates in Art, we'd hear about other twins who have gone through, and at Columbia College we've heard about other twins who've gone through the program before and after us. And then out in the industry, we've met other twins who are in the industry who work together. And then even outside of animation other siblings, other twins and even triplets...<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> In other career fields... We recently met two set of twins who are all writers and they work together.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> In other career fields, y'know, lot of times if that's what you're drawn to, if that's your passion, you do it. So it happens to be like: if two of you are doing it, it's a very collaborative field, so a lot of times it works out that they end up working together.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Well, before you two the only twins I could think of was the Brothers Quay.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Yeah, there's other animators out there, like the Bancroft Brothers. There's other siblings and twins. There's no point in denying yourself, like "Oh, well I'm not going to do this because she does that, I just want to be different." You're not going to deny yourself that opportunity in that--what your passion is. If your passion is the same then just go for it and don't worry about other people being judgmental, like "well, you should break apart, you should just do things separate" then, one of you is going to be denied an experience that both of you want.<br /><br />When we do get jobs, when people first initially contact us, we do say we can either work together or separately--it depends on what they need, what amount of work that they need in their budget and timeline and all that. We can work separate. We have also worked separately on smaller jobs and stuff. But, usually with this field, workloads are higher so of course they're going to use both of us. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BHMK-bwGpTY/WnVO8P2xnpI/AAAAAAAACLo/RCMRV56cdE8dxMIkckeCBSAKp2moZsRsACLcBGAs/s1600/Mearra.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="507" data-original-width="900" height="225" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BHMK-bwGpTY/WnVO8P2xnpI/AAAAAAAACLo/RCMRV56cdE8dxMIkckeCBSAKp2moZsRsACLcBGAs/s400/Mearra.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://vimeo.com/lindamariesmith/selkiefromthesea" target="_blank"><em>Mearra ~ Selkie from the Sea</em></a> *</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong>CW:</strong> So on a project like 'the Selkie from the Sea' that was definitely a project that you two both worked on?<br /><br /><strong>CS &amp; SS:</strong> Yes!<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Yes, that was.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> I'm hearing that was a lot of work there?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Yeah, it just grew and grew and it changed. Omigosh, I still can't believe we did that, even though it was very limited and simple, it still was so much work.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Do you ladies find it difficult to carve out time to do more personal work?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Oh that is so hard.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Yes. It is really hard to find time for personal work. We usually have to wait until between freelance jobs because freelance is so hectic when you have the job, you're just doing that all the time. So a lot of times we just have to wait until a project is over before we can really sit down and work on our own art, all of our own illustrations and everything.<br />﻿<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Q8lfZCXHkU/WnVNuyYuhVI/AAAAAAAACLg/Q2lwBlFuATEjXu1JlmOl50mByZ0mKew3wCLcBGAs/s1600/WonderWomen%2BPrint.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="570" height="258" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Q8lfZCXHkU/WnVNuyYuhVI/AAAAAAAACLg/Q2lwBlFuATEjXu1JlmOl50mByZ0mKew3wCLcBGAs/s400/WonderWomen%2BPrint.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/151869452/we-are-all-wonderwomen-11x17-print?ref=shop_home_feat_1" target="_blank">We Are All Wonder Women</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong>CW:</strong> You sell art and merch at conventions and online, take commissions, create&nbsp;and sell jewelry, all&nbsp;in addition to creating freelance animation, how important do you think it is to have multiple revenue streams as a freelancer?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> It's very important, especially now because freelance work is feast or famine so you never know how many months you're going to go without a studio or corporate job. So it's good for us to have multiple streams of income. Doing Etsy, doing commissions, doing conventions--which then leads to more commissions--all that stuff helps us pay the bills and keeps us afloat during the slow times.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Sometimes a job will start but then suddenly due to business issues or financial issues or whatever variety of issues, a job will just suddenly fall apart. Like the whole job will be canceled. That's happened to us a few times. It's happened multiple times, actually... so it's essential to have other streams of revenue.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Well sometimes like with [how] animation is so expensive if you have a job, and then like their client--it's always working through someone else--and like their client then starts to have to pay the bills for all this work and they're like "omigosh this is a lot and we can't do it". And there's like, y'know, a lot times there's like unexpected, just like weird things that happen...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> I think it's happened about four times to us...<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Yeah, like projects will just get like "oh we're not doing this anymore" because they either like run out of money or they decide they're going to do something different, or they said "oh now we're going to do it CG" or we're going to do it... there's so many different things that can happen to a project... so, anyways, it's really good to have backup for yourself. Be like: "okay, well, I'm going to do a whole bunch of commissions at this time or I'm going to create a ton of my personal art and sell it."<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Yeah, I understand, the project redefinition one is the one that gets me the most. I was working on a big project for the New York MET and they wanted three animations and we had already gotten the two spec'd out--we were working on them--and then they realized that "historically we can't reference this...we can't find a reference for this woodblock print animation that we want to do so we're just going to cut it." Still got paid well for the other stuff, but that was the one that I was looking forward to animating.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> And you just have to keep in mind that "it's just a job." Actually there's one time I did a whole video of something that I really liked. And, I can't go into it, but, it just got cut. And I'm not allowed to ever show it. And I really liked it a lot.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> It's a tightrope that you have to walk, especially when you're working with someone else's money.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Yeah, I know. We've got to remember to keep updating our animation reels every now and then because you're not allowed to show work for so long and then you have to get permission and all that time goes by.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ2FNR3-WzA/WlROh4Kdk7I/AAAAAAAACJg/aQkFbLWFl6UFiD3QqWOdBj9r6a9ruHbjACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/555852_542873322409860_1384208804_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ2FNR3-WzA/WlROh4Kdk7I/AAAAAAAACJg/aQkFbLWFl6UFiD3QqWOdBj9r6a9ruHbjACK4BGAYYCw/s400/555852_542873322409860_1384208804_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://sketchyduo.squarespace.com/catherines-art/" target="_blank">Catherine Satrun</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Be sure to come back next week for the third and final installment with Catherine and Sarah Satrun as they impart some valuable advice for up-and-coming animators. But before you go, check out the animation work in Catherine's demo reel:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VMsRgHCNVAk" width="445"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Due to privacy settings on Linda Marie Smith's Vimeo account, the "Mearra" video cannot be embedded. But please click on the link to view the promo video for </span><a href="https://vimeo.com/lindamariesmith/selkiefromthesea" target="_blank"><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mearra ~ Selkie from the Sea</span></em></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"> featuring animation work from Catherine and Sarah Satrun. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Artwork and animations copyright Catherine and Sarah Satrun, used with permission.</span></div></li><li><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Interview edited for length and clarity.</span></span></div></li></ul></div>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-27264691085765688672018-03-09T00:00:00.000-05:002018-03-10T23:28:53.507-05:00Women of Animation: Eleven Moving Moments with Evelyn Lambart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iTh-bFWNAMQ/WqSpnA05MRI/AAAAAAAACNY/ZT8R7bInrTIYNcLiE9Lyx5o7qmVVwxcJwCLcBGAs/s1600/Evelyn%2BLambart%2BE-Mail%2BImage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="1" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="1018" height="283" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iTh-bFWNAMQ/WqSpnA05MRI/AAAAAAAACNY/ZT8R7bInrTIYNcLiE9Lyx5o7qmVVwxcJwCLcBGAs/s400/Evelyn%2BLambart%2BE-Mail%2BImage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />So back at the 2017 Ottawa International Animation Festival, the National Film Board of Canada showed up with a documentary showcasing Evelyn Lambart, the "First Woman of Canadian Animation" (produced by Donald McWilliams). Often overlooked due to her close working relationship with filmmaking powerhouse Norman McLaren, Evelyn Lambart was a gifted animator in her own right and McWilliams' documentary showcases&nbsp;this seriously neglected facet of Canadian Animation history.<br /><br />Well the other day, as fate would have it, I received an e-mail from the NFB (I'm on their mailing list) stating that they've finally&nbsp;released said documentary on their website. So I'm very&nbsp;pleased to be able to share it with you.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="315" mozallowfullscreen="true" src="https://www.nfb.ca/film/eleven_moving_moments_with_evelyn_lambart/embed/player/" webkitallowfullscreen="true" width="560"></iframe><br /><div style="width: 560px;"><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/film/eleven_moving_moments_with_evelyn_lambart/" target="_blank"><em>Eleven Moving Moments with Evelyn Lambart</em></a>, <a href="https://www.nfb.ca/directors/donald-mcwilliams201639/" target="_blank" title="more films by Donald McWilliams">Donald McWilliams</a>, <a href="https://www.nfb.ca/" target="_blank">provided by the National Film Board of Canada</a></div><br />Additionally, on the NFB's <a href="http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2018/03/08/evelyn-lambart-bio/?utm_campaign=388492_NFB_Films_2018-03-09_IWD2018_B&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=NFB-All_Users" target="_blank">website</a>, they've written a blog post titled "The Life and Times of Evelyn Lambart" that serves as a good overview of her life and career and introduction to the documentary. I encourage everyone interested in animation history to read the article and then watch <em>Eleven Moving Moments</em>. However, if you'd like to skip the blog post and jump right to the documentary, it can be viewed on this blog post via the embedded video, or on the NFB's website at the following link: <em><a href="https://www.nfb.ca/film/eleven_moving_moments_with_evelyn_lambart/" target="_blank">Eleven Moving Moments with Evelyn Lambart</a></em>.<br /><br />And if you have the time, I also recommend reading Carolyne Weldon's <a href="http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2015/03/05/evelyn-lambart/" target="_blank">article</a> on Evelyn: "Watch 6 Stunning Shorts by the First Lady of Canadian Animation". In Carolyne's article, you can watch several of Evelyn's films in their entirety including <em>The Lion and the Mouse</em>, <em>The Hoarder</em>,&nbsp;<em>Fine Feathers</em>, and <em>The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse</em>--which is reportedly the last film that&nbsp;she produced for the NFB.<br /><br />Evelyn Lambart died on&nbsp;April 3,&nbsp;1999 leaving behind a&nbsp;filmography that includes some classics of cinema&nbsp;that were produced with Norman McLaren as well as an amazing body of animated films of her own creation. Many decades later, "the First Woman of Canadian Animation" is finally starting to get the long overdue&nbsp;recognition that she rightfully deserves.<br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-10475092452490500032018-03-06T00:00:00.000-05:002018-03-10T23:29:07.735-05:00Women of Animation: Catherine and Sarah Satrun, Part 1<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwiUqQDJYfM/WlRJjYKTGuI/AAAAAAAACJA/InRW-x-PfSY4H9OwLud49BzmfMTNwYUDACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/Satrun%2BSisters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rwiUqQDJYfM/WlRJjYKTGuI/AAAAAAAACJA/InRW-x-PfSY4H9OwLud49BzmfMTNwYUDACK4BGAYYCw/s320/Satrun%2BSisters.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.sketchyduo.com/" target="_blank">Catherine and Sarah Satrun</a></td></tr></tbody></table>I first learned about the Satrun sisters many years ago through their illustration work and prints, though it wouldn't be until several years later that I met them in person at the Grand Rapids Comicon. Regulars at the convention scene, the Satrun Sisters embody an entrepreneurial spirit as they divide their time between freelance animation work, selling their original artwork online and at conventions, and producing commissioned art.<br /><br />As we proceed through the interview, I've selected works of art that Catherine and Sarah have created, works that I think represent their unique style as well as ones that appeal to me personally. And if one of them catches your eye, click on the hyperlink in the picture caption, you'll be taken to their <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SatrunTwinsArtShop" target="_blank">Etsy store</a> where you can purchase prints. Additionally, they have a <a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/SatrunTwinsArtShop" target="_blank">Society 6 storefront</a> where you can buy merchandise printed&nbsp;with their artwork. And you can view their full line of artwork and animations&nbsp;on their website: <a href="http://www.sketchyduo.com/" target="_blank">sketchyduo.com</a>.<br /><br />Veteran animators and twin sisters, Catherine and Sarah Satrun hail from the Chicago-area where they work as freelance animators and illustrators for both independent and corporate clients... but, I think I'll let them tell you their story:<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> What are your current job descriptions?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> We're freelance animators and illustrators. We do concept art, character design, storyboarding, animation, and illustration.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> We wear many hats, doing whatever is needed--just having that skill-set to go anywhere. <br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> How long have you worked in the animation industry?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Twelve years.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Time flew by! <br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> How did the two of you get into animation?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> After college we did some storyboarding and concept art for independent projects--things like indie films and personal-type projects. Like concept art, pitches, and storyboards. And that gave us experience, just get our foot in the door so we'd have that experience on our résumés. And then we approached <a href="http://calabashanimation.com/" target="_blank">Calabash</a> [Animation] to see if we could get some freelance work. Then that December after graduation we started doing some clean-up work at <a href="http://calabashanimation.com/" target="_blank">Calabash</a> and from there--we got a lot of experience at <a href="http://calabashanimation.com/" target="_blank">Calabash</a> and that's where our skills started to really&nbsp;develop.<br /><br />So, from there we got to go on to get more animation work--independent contractor-type work at other studios and other indie projects.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F36BSGD0YFg/WlWjB9NlAAI/AAAAAAAACKE/8RjhLnTXhsg4aFbwuRnGM1uk70hlIV-hQCLcBGAs/s1600/Steampunk%2BFlying%2BPig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="570" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F36BSGD0YFg/WlWjB9NlAAI/AAAAAAAACKE/8RjhLnTXhsg4aFbwuRnGM1uk70hlIV-hQCLcBGAs/s400/Steampunk%2BFlying%2BPig.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/150940244/steampunk-flying-pig?ref=shop_home_active_90" target="_blank">Steampunk Flying Pig</a>"</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Where did you two study animation?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Columbia College. <br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Right down there in the heart of Chicago?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> We would've loved to go to CalArts or someplace else like that and travel. But there was no way we could afford that.&nbsp;Instead, we got&nbsp;Associates of Art [degrees] at community college and then transferred over to Columbia College.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> We couldn't afford to go live in the dorm and have that kind of college life experience. It was out of the question.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> We were lucky to have Columbia College here. That really helped a lot. <br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> That was back in the day before we had all those online schools and stuff and that online training.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> You mention that Columbia was a good choice for you, being local and a more affordable choice, was there a lot of cross training? Story, drawing?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Well for us, we didn't have the typical experience. Because we did one degree first, and all our "Gen Eds" first, we transferred over. And then in two, two-and-a-half-years, we squeezed in all of the curriculum so we were super art and animation heavy, we had to do it all at the same time. We would have loved to take other classes like watercoloring, painting, sculpting, and illustration, but there wasn't enough time in our schedules.<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Every class was like a studio class for us. It was really hard and the teachers even commented, it was not recommended to do what we did but we still did it.<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> We handled it. And we were still working and then doing school work and homework and all the projects and I don't know we just made it happen. <br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> And handled part-time jobs on top of that. Sometimes you get a lot more hours than you want and then we were animating, I remember multiple times having to animate... quickly whip out the animation like a few hours--one hour even before it was due. I remember doing that. Like we go in, y'know, we were spending all our time commuting and working part-time jobs, you just make it work. You have a lot of late nights. A few all-nighters.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> When did you know that you wanted to be an animators?<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Pretty much our whole lives, since early grade school it was really, really obvious to our parents and all of our teachers and other classmates that we were going to be artists, professionally. There was just no question that we were going to do something in the arts. Because we've always loved to draw and we've always loved the art of animation, it just always seemed natural to go that route.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Was it mainly the art of animation itself, like the physical act of drawing or were you also involved in the music or the color design?<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> We were always interested in the visual art, the drawing aspect of animation, because we were always drawing. And then, do you remember, there's was this vintage toy little projector and you put these yellow large plastic cartridges into it and it was like a little projector projecting on the screen and you would hand crank it and it would have little short clips of film from classic animated shorts... Mickey Mouse and the ghost, that little animated sort. Robin Hood, I think it had him dancing...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> The whole chase scene from Robin Hood...<br /><br /><strong>SS:</strong> Right, so we had all these little cartridges of clips, little clips from a whole bunch of different films, so when we were really young, we had that, and we went frame by frame and you could just see the movement and you understood that "omigosh these are all just drawings" and look how it comes together and it was just so beautiful. We always appreciated the art of animation in terms of the hand craftsmanship, so I think that was a really big influence on us.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zoZIbf9a5to/WnagA_11cBI/AAAAAAAACMM/bRKVaPUqbN4z0PwGKKCZHD5dQEa8cZWmgCLcBGAs/s1600/2017-06-27%2B14.18.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zoZIbf9a5to/WnagA_11cBI/AAAAAAAACMM/bRKVaPUqbN4z0PwGKKCZHD5dQEa8cZWmgCLcBGAs/s400/2017-06-27%2B14.18.41.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Fisher Price Movie Viewer Theater</td></tr></tbody></table><strong></strong><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Was there someone in your past who encouraged you or inspired you to become animators?<br /><br /><em>[both laugh]</em><br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Our Dad just walked in...<br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>SS:</strong> You just asked that question when our Dad walked in [the room]...<br /><br /><strong>CS:</strong> Our parents, yeah yeah, growing up our parents they bought us a lot of books and art supplies when we were little. And actually our Dad was the one who brought home the projector. He brought that home from an auction, so that was a big thing and then like our Mom, instead of toys she kept buying us books and art supplies, so that was really good.<br /><br />Also, when we were in Junior High, our Dad took us to hear a Disney animator give a talk at a mall. So we got to hear an actual Disney animator talk about animation and also how hard he had to work--he really emphasized how hard he had to work to get into animation and also specifically Disney too. I think he applied like five or more times, so he emphasized how hard it was and how hard he had to work to get there. So that was really good to hear that.<br /><br />﻿<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MpF_s5TCKj4/WlROJITFCAI/AAAAAAAACJY/zAzMh9kSPTk048VFNONJfDRwZTWAgNXNACK4BGAYYCw/s1600/487850_542874142409778_746332411_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MpF_s5TCKj4/WlROJITFCAI/AAAAAAAACJY/zAzMh9kSPTk048VFNONJfDRwZTWAgNXNACK4BGAYYCw/s400/487850_542874142409778_746332411_n.jpg" width="293" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://sketchyduo.squarespace.com/sarahs-art/" target="_blank">Sarah Satrun</a></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Since Catherine and Sarah had so much information to gift us with, this interview will be separated into three full posts, so check back next week for Part two of my interview with the Satrun Sisters. But before you go, please take a look at Sarah's demo animation reel.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" gesture="media" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mWq7KNyTOtI" width="445"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><ul><li><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Portrait photo, artwork, and animations copyright Catherine and Sarah Satrun, used with permission.</span></div></li><li><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Interview edited for length and clarity.</span></div></li></ul></div>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-45251715389288140472018-03-04T00:00:00.000-05:002018-03-05T21:30:05.899-05:00Animated Events: A Celebration of Women Animators<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HUnF8Mc7nHE/Wp32q1131-I/AAAAAAAACM4/EXlpI3hb8F0EzYJ_JshDzmzpotf3G35JgCLcBGAs/s1600/PD%2BLotte_Reiniger_1939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="568" data-original-width="327" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HUnF8Mc7nHE/Wp32q1131-I/AAAAAAAACM4/EXlpI3hb8F0EzYJ_JshDzmzpotf3G35JgCLcBGAs/s320/PD%2BLotte_Reiniger_1939.jpg" width="184" /></a></div>Apologies for being a little late on this introductory post for our monthly celebration of women animators, but I was out of town for the weekend. Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending an animation workshop in Toronto which offered the opportunity to work on an animation on a desk used by Lotte Reiniger when she was in Canada.<br /><br />Since I skipped last year, to make up for it, I've partnered up with ASIFA Central to bring you a Celebration of Women Animators over the month of March (in addition to my monthly women animator interviews this year). Some of the things you'll see on this month's blog posts are:<br /><br />1. An additional blog post illustrating some of the perks and benefits of supporting women animators in their efforts to bring their creations to life.<br /><br />2. I'll be writing about my weekend trip to Toronto in order to see the original desk that Lotte Reiniger used while in Canada with lots of pictures of her desk.<br /><br />If you're in Michigan, I'll also be:<br /><br />3. Presenting my "History of Women Animators: the Game Show" at Shuto Con in Lansing, Michigan on Sunday, March 25th.<br /><br />4. And working with ASIFA Central, we'll be hosting a day-long celebration of Women Animators in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, March 31st. Events will include my Women Animators Game Show, a short presentation on Lotte Reiniger (including screening films by Lotte), and an afternoon workshop where we'll produce our own silhouette and cut-out animated films.<br /><br />If you'd like to attend either of the above events, you can do so through the following links:<br /><br /><ul><li>Weekend and one-day badges can be purchased at door during&nbsp;Shuto Con. Registration details and prices are on the&nbsp;website under the <a href="http://www.shutocon.com/registration.html" target="_blank">registration link</a>. My event is on Sunday at 1:30p.m. in the Lansing Center's Panel Room 2 (LC 203 &amp; 204). Shuto Con will be held at the Lansing Center, 333 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933</li></ul><ul><li> March 31's morning Game Show session and History of Lotte Reiniger at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center is free. However, the afternoon workshop is $5 for students, and $10 for adults, but is free to ASIFA members. The morning event will be held at the Wealthy Theater's Koning Microcinema, 1130 Wealthy St SE, Grand Rapids, MI. Additional details are at the <a href="https://grcmc.org/node/32702/history-of-women-in-animation" target="_blank">GRCMC website</a>. The afternoon workshop will be held next door at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center. You can register for the workshop at the following <a href="https://grcmc.org/theatre/node/33001/silhouette-paper-cut-out-stop-motion-animation-workshop" target="_blank">link</a>.</li></ul>So please check back this month as we celebrate Women's History Month with our yearly exploration of the history of women animators.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-60036933212035463592018-03-01T00:00:00.000-05:002018-03-05T09:39:19.108-05:00Animated Quotes: Walt Disney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aHqXiuaZFHY/WkqqeGHSiqI/AAAAAAAACGI/TWWQPl7FV1st_EXPFD78x6IVvj2IWhwUwCLcBGAs/s1600/Walt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1038" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aHqXiuaZFHY/WkqqeGHSiqI/AAAAAAAACGI/TWWQPl7FV1st_EXPFD78x6IVvj2IWhwUwCLcBGAs/s640/Walt.JPG" width="412" /></a></div><br />"Another ugly rumor is that we are trying to develop girls for animation to replace higher-priced men. This is the silliest thing I have ever heard of. We are not interested in low-priced help. We are interested in efficient help. Maybe an explanation of why we are training the girls is in order. First, I would like to qualify it with this--that if a woman can do the work as well, she is worth as much as a man.<br /><br />The girls are being trained for in-betweens for very good reasons. The first is, to make them more versatile, so that the peak loads of inbetweening and inking can be handled. Believe me when I say that the more versatile our organization is, the more beneficial it is to the employees, for it assures steady employment for the employee, as well as steady production turnover for the Studio.<br /><br />The second reason is that the possibility of a war, let along the peacetime conscription, may take many of our young men now employed, and especially many of the young applicants. I believe that if there is to be a business for these young men to come back to after the war, it must be maintained during the war. The girls can help here.<br /><br />Third, the girl artists have the right to expect the same chances for advancement as men, and<strong> I honestly believe that they may eventually contribute something to this business that men never would or could</strong>. In the present group that are training for in-betweens there are definite prospects, and a good example is to mention the work of Ethel Kulsar and Sylvia Holland on <em>The Nutcracker Suite</em>, and little Rhetta Scott, of whom you will hear more when you see <em>Bambi</em>." (emphasis mine)<br /><br />~ Walt Disney addressing his employees, 1941<br /><br />Source: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578067138/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=1578067138&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=animationblast08" target="_blank">Walt Disney: Conversations,</a> edited by Kathy Merlock Jackson, p.17<br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-13135205106446194192017-02-11T12:42:00.004-05:002017-02-11T12:42:55.278-05:00Animated Thoughts: Signe Baumanes Love Affair with Marriage<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OYpMQUSNnYM/UJieN8XqInI/AAAAAAAAASc/tcZbKlbTPlcscoUeofztuXa3I44bgpn7ACPcB/s1600/signe1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OYpMQUSNnYM/UJieN8XqInI/AAAAAAAAASc/tcZbKlbTPlcscoUeofztuXa3I44bgpn7ACPcB/s320/signe1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signe Baumane - TAIS lecture, Toronto, 2012</td></tr></tbody></table>If you've been following either of my Facebook pages, you know that after a successful theater run and world tour with 2014's <em>Rocks in my Pockets</em>, Signe Baumane is back in Brooklyn, New York and hard at work on another feature-length animated film!<br />Signe's first animated feature, <em>Rocks in my Pockets</em>, explored the history of depression and suicide in her family's history set against the backdrop of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Latvia. Well this time around, Signe has returned to the goldmine of her personal history and is using it to animate a story about love and marriage. In the appropriately titled <em>My Love Affair With Marriage</em>, Signe delves into her past relationships and asks herself why her two marriages failed.<br /><br />But rather than explain it myself, here's Signe in her own words:<br /><br /><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/201197611" width="445" height="250" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><a href="https://vimeo.com/202927349">Exclusive Sample Footage for Kickstarter</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user4341796">Signe Baumane</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Currently halfway through her <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055277857/my-love-affair-with-marriage/" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> campaign, Signe has raised roughly one-third of the money needed for the pre-production work on her film. Once the necessary funds have been raised, she'll cast and record 26 voice actors, hire a composer to create twenty-two songs, and hire a musical director to cast the film's 'four singing Mythology Sirens.' If this sounds like a lot of music compared to <em>Rocks in My Pockets</em>, well that's because <em>My Love Affair with Marriage</em> will have several musical numbers. <br /><br />On Signe's <a href="https://vimeo.com/202927349" target="_blank">Vimeo</a> page (at the following link: <a href="https://vimeo.com/202927349">https://vimeo.com/202927349</a>), you can see a some test footage of the bride with the sirens singing a classic tune. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-miysCOqQEvo/WJ5zCya2z0I/AAAAAAAAB0A/CkurGCfR0TAoAUKInKTxnjP5dFV_Z1wHQCLcB/s1600/sirens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-miysCOqQEvo/WJ5zCya2z0I/AAAAAAAAB0A/CkurGCfR0TAoAUKInKTxnjP5dFV_Z1wHQCLcB/s400/sirens.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signe's "bride and the sirens".<br /><em>Image copyright Signe Baumane</em></td></tr></tbody></table>Something worth noting from the clip is how Signe is bringing back the technique of using three-dimensional paper-mâché backgrounds and digitally compositing her 2d animated characters over them like she used in 'Rocks'. For you animation history buffs out there, Signe is using a modern-day "Stereoptical Process" similar to that which was developed by fellow New Yorker Max Fleischer back in the 1930's and seen in Fleischer Studios films like 1936's <em>Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor</em> and the title sequence of 1941's <em>Mr. Bug Goes to Town</em>. As Max was stuck using the analog technology of his time, he used 3d cardboard and paper-mâché sets with the 2d animation cels suspended on a plane between the camera and the sets (see pp. 119-121 of 'The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer' by Ray Pointer for more information). Well fortunately for Signe, we're now living in the digital world of DSLR cameras and computer compositing. But it's really heartwarming to see some of these old techniques revived and updated for modern filmmaking. Whether knowingly or not, Signe has taken a technique from the 1930's and made it her own. <br /><br />Well, enough geek-speak. In my opinion, here are the top three reasons why you should support Signe's Kickstarter campaign and help bring <em>My Love Affair with Marriage</em> to life: <br /><br />1. Signe is a known quantity. Having already produced a large body of work, which includes short animated films and a feature-length animated film, you're investing in someone who has a proven track record of delivering on her promises--both in terms of producing her films and her Kickstarter rewards. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B87z2ZVSRjc/WJ6nMg3JQNI/AAAAAAAAB0g/-jvjweUIQZYJkDY1EIpBU4CD4hszDhbuACLcB/s1600/IMG_6061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-B87z2ZVSRjc/WJ6nMg3JQNI/AAAAAAAAB0g/-jvjweUIQZYJkDY1EIpBU4CD4hszDhbuACLcB/s400/IMG_6061.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The 'Water Spirit' cel from <em>Rocks in my Pockets</em></td></tr></tbody></table>2. According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_animated_feature_films_of_2016" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>, last year there were twenty-four animated features either produced or co-produced in the United States. Only three had women directors--and they were all co-directors with men at that (<em>Kung Fu Panda 3</em> - Jennifer Yuh Nelson, <em>My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Legend of Everfree</em> - Katrina Hadley, and <em>Ratchet &amp; Clank</em> - Jericca Cleland).<br /><br />Signe is the writer, animator, director, and co-producer of her film. Once completed, 'Marriage' would add to the number of animated features directed by women.<br /><br />Out of those remaining twenty-one films, all the others were directed by men. Now I don't have a problem with men directing animated films (obviously). But the fact that we don't have more women at the helm of feature length animated films says something about our industry and that is: we're missing out on one-half of the human experience with all it's unique visions, nuances, and experiences. Which brings us to point number three.<br /><br />3. One of the things I've noticed over the years about the established studio system is that they aren't very willing to tell stories from a woman's perspective. While I understand that when one is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to make an animated film, this would tend to make even the most jaded exec rather skittish. As a result, they want to film to appeal to as broad an audience as possible and this lends itself to repeating certain styles of storytelling over and over. However, the financial success of films like Amy Tan's <em>The Joy Luck Club</em> and Disney's <em>Frozen</em> have proven that there is a market for films that tell stories that are relevant to women and are told from a woman's perspective. Sadly, all too often, women have to leave the studio system in order to tell these stories--those that are deeply personal to them and that resonate with a female audience (and a portion of the male audience who values good storytelling that exists outside of our own experience). And we, the filmgoing public are the ones who suffer since these films usually don't get as wide a reception in theaters as they would if they had the backing of a major studio. <br /><br />So if, like me, you're chafing under the restrictions that we see in the selection of animated films out there, now is your chance to help breathe life into a project created and directed by a woman who wants to tell a story from her unique perspective.<br /><br />You can be a part of the Kickstarter campaign right now. Just click on the following link: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055277857/my-love-affair-with-marriage/">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1055277857/my-love-affair-with-marriage/</a>, and make your pledge.<br /><br />The world of animation will be better because of it.Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-89877276947500343842017-01-17T00:00:00.000-05:002017-01-25T23:36:14.849-05:00Women of Animated Film: The College Class!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zeZWhSJ0U2c/WIl26afsb5I/AAAAAAAAByc/YWk0l9148rQGl7-bRl0c3TFDhqqCfWVMgCLcB/s1600/IMG_5851.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zeZWhSJ0U2c/WIl26afsb5I/AAAAAAAAByc/YWk0l9148rQGl7-bRl0c3TFDhqqCfWVMgCLcB/s400/IMG_5851.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huntington University... 'Go Foresters!'</td></tr></tbody></table>Well, after a several month break from blogging, I'm finally back behind the keyboard. In truth, I never left, but my late-Summer, Fall, and Winter seasons were taken up by copious amounts of research into and writing about women working in the field of animation. <br /><br />Some background is necessary:<br /><br />Two years ago, a friend and fellow ASIFA/Central member who teaches at Indiana's Huntington University asked me if I'd be interested in teaching a J-Term course about women animators. Well, we didn't get the paperwork submitted on time for me to teach during January 2016, but we were right on track for 2017. And it worked out for the best as that extra year of research and prep-time helped me create a better course than I had originally planned. I wrote the course as a three credit-hour class (though we billed it as a two-credit hour class to make it more affordable for the students) and taught it in three hour blocks for eight days (working out as eight, six hour days).<br /><br />The class content was a mixture of historical information, films, film analysis, and discussion of current events. Though it's hard to pick a favorite aspect of the class, one near the top of the list was an afternoon workshop where I instructed the students in the basics of sand, paint-on-glass, and silhouette/cut-out animation--techniques used by Lotte Reiniger, Caroline Leaf, Martine Chartrand, and Lynn Smith.<br /><br />This being the first class I've taught in a collegiate setting, it was mercifully free from problems. Other than a DVD that went bad during a screening and the ever present 'volume control' on the sound system, the class was free from technical glitches or other issues that would detract from the learning environment. And when the class was over after that second week, I found myself wishing for just one more day to share one more animator with the class--as my research would prove: there's no shortage of women out there who are creating wonderful animated films. It was extremely heartwarming to read the students' daily journals and have them come up to me after class and state how much they enjoyed learning about these women animators and how the class inspired them to seek out their films on their own time.<br /><br />The best surprise was that at the end of the two weeks, several students chose to make films for their final projects. All were very good, but one sand animation&nbsp;was excellent. I've encouraged Jemimah to send it out to the&nbsp;festivals, so hopefully you'll all get to see it soon.<br /><br />The folks at Huntington University were very&nbsp;friendly and went out of their way to ensure that my class was a success for me and their students. The other professors and staff were&nbsp;a real joy to work with.<br /><br />All-in-all, while I've already pinpointed things that I'd do differently and modifications I'd like to make to the class, I would definitely run this class again!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7DIKJt9rjRA/WIl7W79A9pI/AAAAAAAAByw/Ti0SARle7TUvKqQZI1rvrgL70PYhoI6KwCLcB/s1600/Huntington_Ind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7DIKJt9rjRA/WIl7W79A9pI/AAAAAAAAByw/Ti0SARle7TUvKqQZI1rvrgL70PYhoI6KwCLcB/s320/Huntington_Ind.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-21696658232541021022016-07-23T00:42:00.003-04:002016-07-23T00:42:41.219-04:00Latest News: A temporary hiatus...Things have been quiet lately and there's a really good&nbsp;reason for it.<br /><br /> I pitched a J-Term class to a University down in Indiana where a friend of mine teaches and it was accepted! <br /><br /> Next January, I'll be teaching a nine day, three-credit hour class on the History of Women Animators. <br /><br /> So, the reason why it's been quiet, and why it'll be quiet for a short while longer is that I'm writing the course material and tracking down films to show the class.<br /><br />Thank you for your patience during this time. I'll be back in the Fall. :)Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-51364795389205610942016-04-19T00:00:00.000-04:002016-05-10T10:45:36.536-04:00Women in Animation: Samantha Inoue-Harte, Part 2<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aP01096YSFQ/VvSkUpUOtaI/AAAAAAAABcU/INVG6Xs8LuEfaC0G7JClJB52Sbn4ic-YA/s1600/cat%2Bshit%2Bone%2B%2528cropped%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aP01096YSFQ/VvSkUpUOtaI/AAAAAAAABcU/INVG6Xs8LuEfaC0G7JClJB52Sbn4ic-YA/s320/cat%2Bshit%2Bone%2B%2528cropped%2529.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat Shit One<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 1</span><b><br /></b></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> After a successful short film, 'Cat Shit One' didn't make it into full series production. How do you deal with the disappointment of putting that much energy into a project and not seeing it come to fruition?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> I was brought in on 'Cat Shit One' after the first episode was finished.&nbsp; I was given DVDs and action figures for the main characters.&nbsp; Our studio then developed a presentation deck that could then be presented to American distribution companies to pitch as an animated series.&nbsp; We partnered with a talented live-action actor for voice work and we spoke with several networks and outlets but unfortunately, though many 3D animated series at the time had budgets of over $1 million per episode with very geometric or Lego looking characters.&nbsp; We were asked to keep our high quality/furry animation the same as the short but asked to meet budgets far lower than many less complicated 3D animated series on television. We were also asked to change the story from a serious action packed series to a comedy.&nbsp; In the end, we could not make the numbers work enough to make American audiences interested in buying the show.<br /><br />And when that happens, you just keep moving forward.&nbsp; You NEVER put all of your eggs in a single basket.&nbsp; Many of your projects fail, you just have to keep coming up with new projects until one sticks.<br /><br /><b>CW:</b> When you produce animated films/series, do you focus on one or do you usually have a couple that you're working on at the same time?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> I am always working on multiple projects at any given point in time.&nbsp; If I kept all of my eggs in a single basket then I would not be as productive as I am.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TpSWw1PzbTw/VvSlOx2QHEI/AAAAAAAABcY/GBlQLCUm2sw2G0cb-x2JOEhbwWwkpxIRw/s1600/Tailchasers_Song_Teaser_Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TpSWw1PzbTw/VvSlOx2QHEI/AAAAAAAABcY/GBlQLCUm2sw2G0cb-x2JOEhbwWwkpxIRw/s320/Tailchasers_Song_Teaser_Poster.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tailchaser's Song<span style="font-size: xx-small;"> 2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> How did you get involved in producing Tailchaser's Song?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> A sweet voice actress colleague of mine, Carrie Savage, introduced me to another voice actress/writer who had a project that was being developed into a feature.&nbsp; I met with Bethany Rhoades for coffee as a favour to Carrie.&nbsp; The meeting....was pretty painful.&nbsp; Everything that you could do to mess up a pitch, she did.&nbsp; But then, she pulled out some artwork that an artist had done for characters and settings of the project.&nbsp; And I was sold.&nbsp; I joked with her saying that she should have just started off the meeting by showing me the artwork.&nbsp; It was like lightning struck.&nbsp; I called my producing partner, Paul Alvarado-dykstra and convinced him to look at the artwork.&nbsp; The artwork spoke to me.<br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Tailchaser's Song was announced back in 2011, can you talk about how production is coming along?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> Big things are happening. I would need to discuss with my team about what I can say at this point.&nbsp; Things are happening. I'm really excited.&nbsp; There's a name I want to drop. But I don't want to jinx things.&nbsp; Can we come back and discuss things about Tailchaser at a later point?&nbsp; :)<br /><br /><b>CW:</b> In the context of your production work, how do you think that crowdfunding (Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Patreon, etc.) has changed the game of animation production (if at all)?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> We have spoken at length about crowdfunding and have seen how popular it has been to help create some amazing work.&nbsp; We have not moved towards doing any crowdfunding at this moment, but I do have to say that animation production, especially of shorts, have definitely benefited from the funding created by crowdfunding sites.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbF3NmfEfwc/VvSmaMktfSI/AAAAAAAABck/VuNvJUryM3wGObTDcSh5KeBDro6Nt-Cyg/s1600/Fritti%2BTailchaser%2Bby%2BMatt%2BRhodes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rbF3NmfEfwc/VvSmaMktfSI/AAAAAAAABck/VuNvJUryM3wGObTDcSh5KeBDro6Nt-Cyg/s320/Fritti%2BTailchaser%2Bby%2BMatt%2BRhodes.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fritti Tailchaser concept art by Matt Rhodes&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>CW:</b> How have opportunities changed for women pursuing a career in animation today as opposed to when you started your career?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> When I first began work as an animator, there were less than five women.&nbsp; Now, there are a few women in every animation studio that I have walked into.&nbsp; It's definitely become more accepting.&nbsp; I'm glad I never have to be the lone female in an animation studio anymore.&nbsp; Things are definitely a lot better for women now in America.&nbsp; Japan, has always had more women in the animation studios than in America.&nbsp; <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> What do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> I do believe that one of the biggest obstacles that women have to face in the animation industry is fairness in pay.&nbsp; Though things have definitely gotten better for women since I first began, you still run into the random moments when you find out that a woman is being paid less for doing the same, if not more, work than a male animator counterpart.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cl_opJQe_s0/VvSmbqQTwpI/AAAAAAAABco/hl-POg_tD20NHWEO1a7aCjkL_JA83NLWQ/s1600/Pouncequick%2B%2526%2BRikchikchik%2Bby%2BMatt%2BRhodes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="302" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Cl_opJQe_s0/VvSmbqQTwpI/AAAAAAAABco/hl-POg_tD20NHWEO1a7aCjkL_JA83NLWQ/s320/Pouncequick%2B%2526%2BRikchikchik%2Bby%2BMatt%2BRhodes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pouncequick &amp; Rikchikchik concept art by Matt Rhodes&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><b>CW:</b> If you had a daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> I would make her take business classes.&nbsp; Teach her how to read and negotiate contracts and teach her how to take care of her money.&nbsp; Most problems I see in studios in the US is many animators/artists are not well versed in basic Business skills so I have seen many people run into problems with money and with taxes.&nbsp; My daughter will definitely need to focus on Business classes before I EVER let her get into any animation work.<br /><br /><b>CW:</b> What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation?<br /><br /><b>SIH:</b> My parents desperately wanted me to work in Math or Science.&nbsp; I was terrible at both subjects.&nbsp; I was pressed to go into fields that I had little to no interest.&nbsp; I was an artist from the get go and unfortunately, it wasn't until halfway through high school when my parents conceded that I would just never be good at science or math.&nbsp; I had tutors, I had study guides, I took extra courses in science and math just so I could get better.&nbsp; I just could not wrap my brain around any of it.&nbsp; I was frustrated. My parents were frustrated.&nbsp; It took YEARS for my parents to come to terms that I needed to study something else.&nbsp; But before that ever happened, it was like my parents were in denial.&nbsp; They pushed and pushed.&nbsp; It wasn't for lack of me studying.&nbsp; I had a periodic table poster plastered on my ceiling for years as well as math time tables on my bedroom door for years.&nbsp; I have to say that to authority figures, encourage all kids to do what they enjoy.&nbsp; Listen to your kids. And if they want to consider a career in animation, then get them into life drawing classes as early on as possible.&nbsp; Sign your kids up for after school art classes. Buy some art programs for their computers and buy a Wacom tablet.&nbsp; If they want to consider animation, then the earlier you can expose them to it, the better.&nbsp; But keep them focused on perspective drawing and life drawing.&nbsp; <br /><br />It's been a real pleasure being able to spend time with you.&nbsp; If you have any further questions in the future, please do not hesitate to ask.<br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Thank you very much for the interview. :)<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnk2slJ8S3E/VvSmeGUoAfI/AAAAAAAABcw/1dxWKg0txSE6dmKdHeJ0J3pjs7-cowLJw/s1600/Sami%2Bat%2BAlmaCon%2B2016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wnk2slJ8S3E/VvSmeGUoAfI/AAAAAAAABcw/1dxWKg0txSE6dmKdHeJ0J3pjs7-cowLJw/s320/Sami%2Bat%2BAlmaCon%2B2016.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sami and I at AlmaCon 2016&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">*&nbsp; *&nbsp; *</div><br />Samantha’s larger body of work is listed on her <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1404109/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">IMDB page</a>, where you can find her animation and anime projects as well as her voice acting and live action work. And keep an eye out for the upcoming Tailchaser’s Song, currently in development. Press releases for Tailchaser’s Song can be found at <a href="http://studioanimetropolis.com/" target="_blank">Animetropolis’ website</a> and an archive of info can be found on their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Animetropolis-160906657317282/" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. “Cat Shit One” available on Blu-Ray at Amazon.com at the following <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/Cat-Shit-The-Animated-Series/dp/B004DUNOG0?ie=UTF8&amp;keywords=cat%20shit%20one&amp;qid=1458874783&amp;ref_=sr_1_1&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">link</a>. Image used with permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">2. Image copyright <a href="http://studioanimetropolis.com/" target="_blank">Animetropolis</a> and used with permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">3. Image copyright Charles Wilson.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2016 Smudge Animation LLC, all rights reserved </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-11973128908834982672016-04-05T00:00:00.000-04:002016-05-10T10:44:54.935-04:00Women in Animation: Samantha Inoue-Harte, Part 1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CkOTW44UG78/VvCvxxLI9dI/AAAAAAAABbQ/H9lJgIjvIO09rpad6l84nKGHyBZT3todw/s1600/Samantha%2BInoue-Harte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CkOTW44UG78/VvCvxxLI9dI/AAAAAAAABbQ/H9lJgIjvIO09rpad6l84nKGHyBZT3todw/s320/Samantha%2BInoue-Harte.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Samantha Inoue-Harte</em> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table>There are a lot of smaller animation conventions and anime festivals around the country, one such being "Alma Con" up in Alma, Michigan. Smaller cons and fests can be places where you find those rare little gems that'll keep you coming back year after year. And every now and then, you'll hit the jackpot! In February 2015, the organizers of Alma Con released their finalized schedule shortly before the convention. When I saw a listing for a woman who would be running a couple panels on animation, my curiosity was piqued. Since Alma is less than an hour's drive from my home, I made the trek up North with a friend. That's where I had my first encounter with Samantha Inoue-Harte. Only once before in my travels have I encountered such an exciting bundle of positive energy in the animation community (that being Haitian-Canadian animator Martine Chartrand). In mere minutes, Sami had the entire crowd eating out of her hand as she told us stories of working on animation projects for Disney and several Japanese anime studios, acting in movies like Grindhouse and Idiocracy, and doing voice acting for anime shows like Trinity Blood, Dai-Guard, and Final Fantasy Unlimited (she's the "Chocobo"). After her hour presentation was over, the entire crowd followed her out into the hall where she continued to regale us with more stories of working on-site with Troublemaker Studios (Robert Rodriguez's studio) and trying to get networks like Adult Swim interested in the 3d animated adaptation of Motofumi Kobayashi's Cat Sh*t One. After the crowd thinned out somewhat, Sami readily agreed to being interviewed for my blog. Unfortunately life, as it often does, got in the way. But, we stayed in touch, talked back and forth a bit over the year, and met back up again at Alma Con 2016. This time, everything worked out and we were able to complete our interview just in time. Thank you again for the interview, Sami, it was well worth the wait.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> Hello Charles! This is Samantha Inoue-harte but feel free to call me, Sami or Samu.&nbsp; Most of my family is Japanese and due to the fact that the "th" sound really doesn't exist in Japanese I really don't get called "Samantha" a lot and will probably not respond to it...however, if you say, "Samansa" I will.&nbsp; lol.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> What is your current job description?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> My main job title is Animation producer and as for description....well, I develop animated content for transmedia platforms for Western and Eastern audiences.&nbsp; By that, I mean that I come up with ideas for new anime or feature projects, pitch them, develop the ideas that interest my partners, navigate through multicultural business practices, create presentation decks, budgeting, story development, overviewing scripts, making sure script translations are done correctly, etc.....in other words, a lot. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IDpg88-K3d4/VvCxfv8EYHI/AAAAAAAABbc/OgzdydOt3t0mpink9o11Yy0iQXEwzuSUQ/s1600/Sami%2Band%2BGrumpy%2BCat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IDpg88-K3d4/VvCxfv8EYHI/AAAAAAAABbc/OgzdydOt3t0mpink9o11Yy0iQXEwzuSUQ/s320/Sami%2Band%2BGrumpy%2BCat.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Sami and grumpy cat</em> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><strong>CW:</strong> You've worked in the animation industry for 19 years. What roles have you performed during your career in animation?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> I was lucky enough to be the assistant to a fantastic animation director by the name of Sam Fleming when I was a freshman in college.&nbsp; I was a receptionist, cleanup artist, colorist, inbetweener, animator, character designer, layout artist, background artist, scriptwriter, storyboard artist....and eventually I worked my way into various animation studios and by 2005 I started Saiko Studios where I finally became the animation director for Spike TV's Fresh Baked Videogames under Justin Roiland (Rick and Morty).&nbsp; I rarely draw anything anymore, my role now is more of a story developer.<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> What made you choose animation as a major course of study?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> I graduated high school in Illinois and originally thought I would attend Northwestern or some other college in the Illinois area.&nbsp; Had a full scholarship offer at the Rhode Island Institute of Art and looked at Sheridan.&nbsp; But my mother had cancer so my family decided that the best thing for us was to move to Texas to be close to MD. Anderson in Houston so that she could get the best care possible.&nbsp; I knew nothing about Texas and called A&amp;M and the University of Texas at Austin to see if there was an animation program.&nbsp; The advisor at UT@Austin informed me that their college had the state's leading Animation program and I immediately filled out an application.&nbsp; Found out upon arrival to Texas that there was no animation program at the University of Texas and so I had to make changes to my plans.&nbsp; I was LIVID.&nbsp; I had already been accepted and my family had already spent a lot of money to move to the Austin area from Illinois.&nbsp; I was stuck.&nbsp; So I ended up choosing to pursue a double major for a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio art and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History focusing on the Italian renaissance.&nbsp; I became an avid art historian.&nbsp; But the lack of animation programming at the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 was the reason why I began pursuing a position at an animation studio.&nbsp; I worked throughout my college career at an animation studio while doing my double degree at the University.&nbsp; I still get a little angry sometimes, but at the same time, if I had not been mislead by the advisor, I would not have pursued my animation career so early in my life.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OSSXRRTroIw/VvCxuruQZ1I/AAAAAAAABbg/cyeXIiatIZw1NHg4r6-a0UiBD4vDsX0Lg/s1600/Sami%2Band%2BGrumpy%2BAnimator.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OSSXRRTroIw/VvCxuruQZ1I/AAAAAAAABbg/cyeXIiatIZw1NHg4r6-a0UiBD4vDsX0Lg/s320/Sami%2Band%2BGrumpy%2BAnimator.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Sami teaching 'grumpy animator' what a "Glomp" is.</em> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><strong>CW:</strong> You have worked for American studios and with Japanese studios, what are some of the differences, difficulties and challenges to working in a Japanese Animation studio vs. an American studio (or vice versa)?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> Wow....hmmmm.... good question.&nbsp; As for the differences between American and Japanese animation studios....the first thing that comes to mind is the studio space size.&nbsp; Every American animation studio I have ever been in is larger compared to Japanese studios.&nbsp; Ceilings are higher, hallways are wider, offices are bigger, there is more cartoony decorations, brighter colors on the walls, there is always some sort of videogame console somewhere in an American studio.&nbsp; Japanese studios....are compact by comparison.&nbsp; The environment at a Japanese animation studio is also a little more serious.&nbsp; You don't see a lot of cartoony looking characters decorating the walls and I have never witnessed any animator in a Japanese animation studio playing videogames from their desks, there are no action figurines decorating artist's workspaces like they do in America either.<br /><br />Now, my main challenge and difficulty that I have faced in American studios and Japanese studios?&nbsp; Well, let me make one thing clear, I do not work in a Japanese animation studio, I have never been an animator in a Japanese animation studio.&nbsp; I work WITH Japanese anime studios and partner WITH them to develop new animated content.&nbsp; So I can never really say that I work IN a Japanese animation studio.&nbsp; <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-DSq3VudeQ/VvCzC1ArwEI/AAAAAAAABbw/6HiTuAyDo7sdHq2o1QX-wQPLXcemlCcFQ/s1600/Dai-Guard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P-DSq3VudeQ/VvCzC1ArwEI/AAAAAAAABbw/6HiTuAyDo7sdHq2o1QX-wQPLXcemlCcFQ/s320/Dai-Guard.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Dai-Guard</em> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></td></tr></tbody></table>But back to the question....the one challenge and difficulty that I have faced in both American and Japanese studios is the fact that I'm a woman.&nbsp; I have, unfortunately, been paid less as a female artist at American studios when doing the same jobs as men.&nbsp; I have been treated with less respect for being a woman and have been laughed at when I have previously tried pitching ideas.&nbsp; There have been times when, as a woman, I have been excluded from Animation studio functions like lunches or getting company items.&nbsp; For example, there was one studio where all the employees were given matching company jackets.&nbsp; All the female employees were excluded from this perk.&nbsp; When asked if the female staff could get a jacket, we were told that we could if we really wanted them but that we would have to pay $150 for a jacket.&nbsp; Needless to say, I don't believe any of the female employees received one. It's the opposite in Japan.&nbsp; I may be a woman, and though that has posed some unique situations in Japan, I am a producer, therefore I am presented with more respect and am treated like a guest whenever I go to Japan.&nbsp; It is awkward in business meetings because as a woman, I would traditionally be the person responsible for pouring tea to the rest of the people in a meeting. But as a producer, I do not have to do that, so the lowest man on the totem pole has to do this.&nbsp; No one is rude enough to mention anything about it, but it does cause some awkward moments.&nbsp; I am a woman, but am treated as a man.&nbsp; And I am fine with that.&nbsp; :)<br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> What do think is the most important skill set animators should work on to prepare themselves for the industry?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> I cannot stress enough....animators need to work on life drawing.&nbsp; I get a lot of new aspiring animators who come to me with sketchbooks full of "Anime" styled artwork, but unfortunately, many aspiring artists are not able to draw the human figure realistically.&nbsp; In order to create a new style or your own personal style of artwork, you have to be able to draw a human figure realistically.&nbsp; Bones lay a particular way, muscles sit on bone, skin covers the muscles....and if you don't know how each layer works with each other or how they lay on each other when a human is posed in a dramatic pose, then how can you be expected to understand how to animate a character?&nbsp; <br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Throughout your career, you have done live action acting and voice acting. How does your live-action work influence your animation work?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> My live-action work has actually helped me with my composition and staging in my animation work.&nbsp; Using myself as a character in a film, I am able to see where the director sits, how the camera is angled, and I am then able to see the set from the director's perspective.&nbsp; I have recreated camera shots that I acted in and transposed those shots into my storyboards to create more of a live-action feel in some of my projects.&nbsp; Voice acting....it has helped me with my mouthflap animations. <br /><br /><strong>CW:</strong> Now that you've made the shift to producing films, do you prefer animating or producing?<br /><br /><strong>SIH:</strong> I do miss animation and may do it from time to time on some personal stuff, but producing has become my passion.&nbsp; It's amazing to see a story get developed from inside of my head and then be transformed into something that everyone can see.&nbsp; You are working closely with talented animators and creating characters from your mind. You layout whole worlds and create maps, create costumes, layout a whole plot, etc.&nbsp; I feel I am able to create more as a producer than I ever could as an animator where my supervisor would hand me a stack of papers or computer files where I have to animate characters that I had nothing to do with the creation of.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">* * *</div><br />Be sure to come back next week for part two of Sami's Interview where we continue discussing her shift from animator to producer, talk about her work on the animated feature adaptation of "Tailchaser's Song", and hear her advice for young ladies who want to work in the field of animation.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Image copyright Samantha Inoue-Harte and used with permission.<br />2. Image copyright Charles Wilson.<br />3. Image copyright ADVFilms.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2016 Smudge Animation LLC, all rights reserved.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br /><br /><div align="left" style="text-align: center;">﻿</div>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-31358613146520821302016-03-22T00:00:00.000-04:002016-05-10T10:44:13.927-04:00Women in Animation: Joan C. Gratz, Part 2<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pqq8p03X240/Vp8B1WFPGiI/AAAAAAAABRQ/5cjjCBuDhPk/s1600/puffer%2Bgirl%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pqq8p03X240/Vp8B1WFPGiI/AAAAAAAABRQ/5cjjCBuDhPk/s320/puffer%2Bgirl%2B3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Puffer Girl</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> Now with ‘Puffer Girl’ you recently got into digital tools like After Effects. Do you find that it enhances your claypainting style, or is it more of just trying to use the digital tools to find ways to save time? <br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"></div><b>JCG:</b> ‘Puffer Girl’ took me several years as I was learning After Effects in the process. An early realization was that I needed a far more powerful computer. The content of Puffer Girl was based on what I wanted to learn and what the program was able to do. The actual claypainting was my traditional hand method, but the editing, Photoshop filters, masks, distortions, etc. were the result of After Effects. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> How did you get involved with Joanna Priestly's "CandyJam" project? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> Joanna and I were at the first animation festival in Hiroshima in 1985. We were fascinated by many things including the beautiful and strange candies. Inspired by Marv Newland’s film ‘Anijam’, we decided to co-produce one with multiple directors from around the world. The only stipulation was that the pieces use candy and be one minute long. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pYCZgnn1nqQ/Vp8B_NFUBkI/AAAAAAAABRY/HJIDN4x11QQ/s1600/candyjam%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pYCZgnn1nqQ/Vp8B_NFUBkI/AAAAAAAABRY/HJIDN4x11QQ/s200/candyjam%2B1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Candyjam&nbsp;</i> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> Were there any concerns about the legality of using other people's products? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> Oh, it never even occurred to us. It wasn't a commercial project. I can't imagine that anyone would have any objections. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> You were nominated for an Oscar in 1980 and again in 1992 which you won for "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase", how did winning the Oscar affect your career? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> Creation was nominated for 1981, and Mona Lisa won for 1992. Both short films inspired advertising agencies to approach me about doing a commercial in a similar style and in the case of United Airlines, similar images. The commercial I did for Coke may have been the result of the Oscar win or increased visibility. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4MfbcFY2zfU/Vp8CLdfKW8I/AAAAAAAABRg/Pe2R0w7sxHo/s1600/Creation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4MfbcFY2zfU/Vp8CLdfKW8I/AAAAAAAABRg/Pe2R0w7sxHo/s1600/Creation.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Creation</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I left Will Vinton Studios in 1987 to direct a commercial in Bristol. This commercial won a prize at Cannes. Since I had done a lot of work before receiving the Oscar, it is hard to know exactly what the effect of winning was. But it did mean that I could join the Academy, get all the free screeners, and vote. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> How did you get involved in working on Khalil Gibran's 'the Prophet'? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> I was approached about five years ago by Ron Senkowski, one of the producers. My style has a certain ethereal quality which fit Gibran’s poetry. It went through a long period of development during which they approached many animators. I was never sure if the project would materialize and if I would be included. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Did Salma Hayek Pinault give you artistic freedom to interpret Gibran's poetry as you saw fit, or did she come to you with an idea in mind?<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ayDcTtVCZUs/Vp8CYgVfxlI/AAAAAAAABRo/ligfYcbZUKw/s1600/The%2BProphet%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ayDcTtVCZUs/Vp8CYgVfxlI/AAAAAAAABRo/ligfYcbZUKw/s400/The%2BProphet%2B4.jpg" width="272" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>JCG:</b> Salma was a producer and Roger Allers was the director of the framing story and our contact person for the producers. The Chapter directors developed their own storyboards and animatics. Roger and the producers gave us feedback on the animatics. Since I work directly under the camera and the last image is covered by the following image, it is almost impossible to make any changes. Most other forms of animation can accommodate revisions. <br /><br />Before we went to Cannes, I had a conversation with Salma about what to wear on the red carpet. She said “you will come dressed in your own talent." Over the course of premieres in Cannes, Toronto, Doha and Los Angeles, I learned how articulate Salma was and how dedicated she and Roger were to this film and to Gibran’s ‘The Prophet.’ <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> How have opportunities changed for women pursuing a career in animation today as opposed to when you started your career? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> I don’t know because I have primarily been an independent. I think it depends on your level of talent, drive and luck. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6wH4HYf4gn4/Vp8CyLU2kMI/AAAAAAAABR0/wEy2g67wwEY/s1600/puffer%2Bgirl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6wH4HYf4gn4/Vp8CyLU2kMI/AAAAAAAABR0/wEy2g67wwEY/s1600/puffer%2Bgirl.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Puffer Girl</i>&nbsp;&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> What do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> I also have no idea about that either. I don't know if you can really differentiate on the basis of gender. It is difficult for anyone who wants to be an independent animator. Often people with great student films are snapped up by ad agencies or do children’s television. They are successful in those genres but never make another personal film. For the truly independent animator with their own vision, gender doesn’t mater, it will be difficult. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> If your daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> I don't have a daughter, so I guess I would just say to whomever, do whatever you want. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> If a person wants to do something, they do it. Why should you need to encourage them? Animation can be dull and slow, so unless you have a drive for it, there's no way that you could really encourage them. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGnk2iXLOJ0/Vp8DHpxlPuI/AAAAAAAABR8/bIpL1sat49w/s1600/candyjam%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oGnk2iXLOJ0/Vp8DHpxlPuI/AAAAAAAABR8/bIpL1sat49w/s200/candyjam%2B2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Candyjam&nbsp;</i> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> Tell us about your new book: “My Tesla - A love story of a mouse and her car.” <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> With the profit from ‘the Prophet’, I bought a Tesla. It is a picture book about a mouse and her electric car. It is for adults but in the guise of a children’s book. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Did you do all the writing and the illustrations? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> I did the writing and illustrations. It is truly an autobiography. My animation tends to be less personal and often abstract. This book is based on my impulse purchase of the Tesla and the succeeding pleasures, concerns and consequences of electric-car ownership. Last year I purchased the smarter Tesla which is capable of driving itself, parking, and coming when called. So far I haven’t let it do any of these things. My obsession with the car pales in comparison to my obsession with book sales on Amazon. No one on a plane or at an animation festival is immune from my advances. My Oscar is of less concern to me than my ratings on Amazon. <br /><br />'My Tesla - A love story of a mouse and her car’ is available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974832332?keywords=a%20mouse%20and%20her%20tesla&amp;qid=1452140957&amp;ref_=sr_1_1&amp;sr=8-1" target="_blank">Amazon.com</a>.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRREXtXQnQE/Vp8Dd93oIMI/AAAAAAAABSE/UiV61kZ17FY/s1600/A%2BMouse%2Band%2BHer%2BTesla%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qRREXtXQnQE/Vp8Dd93oIMI/AAAAAAAABSE/UiV61kZ17FY/s400/A%2BMouse%2Band%2BHer%2BTesla%2B1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My Tesla - A love story of a mouse and her car</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Joan’s is currently sending her latest film ‘Night Weaver’ out to the film festivals. Look for it at an upcoming festival near you! <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_RFMNvmc87A/Vp8DtVbk8PI/AAAAAAAABSM/hVqEQBzgQvA/s1600/Night%2BWeaver%2B%25282015%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_RFMNvmc87A/Vp8DtVbk8PI/AAAAAAAABSM/hVqEQBzgQvA/s400/Night%2BWeaver%2B%25282015%2529.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Night Weaver</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><center>* * *</center><br />For further viewing of Joan’s greater body of work, ‘the Joan Gratz Retrospective’ is available for digital download on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/nz/movie/the-joan-gratz-retrospective/id694610276" target="_blank">iTunes</a> as well as streaming on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Joan-Gratz-Retrospective-Jean-Poulot/dp/B00HVVJM5U/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1452141150&amp;sr=1-2&amp;keywords=Joan+C.+Gratz" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. The video includes the films Mona Lisa Descending the Staircase, Puffer Girl, Pro and Con, Lost and Found, Kubla Khan, Dowager’s Feast, and Dowager’s Idyll intercut with discussions of her work by Joan. <br /><br />‘Mona Lisa Descending the Staircase’ is also available on DVD from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Mona-Lisa-Descending-Staircase-Poulot/dp/B00065GX5U/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1452141079&amp;sr=1-4&amp;keywords=Joan+C.+Gratz" target="_blank">Amazon</a>. <br /><br />Joan’s website is located at <a href="http://www.gratzfilm.com/" target="_blank">www.gratzfilm.com</a> along with excerpts and images from both her independent and commercial work as well as links to her books and DVDs.<br /><br />Distributed by <a href="http://www.gkidsfilms.com/prophet/" target="_blank">GKIDS</a>, 'Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet' is currently available for digital download and on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kahlil-Gibrans-Prophet-Liam-Neeson/dp/B014U45DSU/ref=tmm_dvd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=" target="_blank">DVD</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014U45D08/ref=s9_simh_gw_g74_i1_r?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&amp;pf_rd_s=desktop-1&amp;pf_rd_r=16RFWZVWWRR6MZG5XJPN&amp;pf_rd_t=36701&amp;pf_rd_p=2079475242&amp;pf_rd_i=desktop" target="_blank">Blu-Ray</a> at Amazon.com. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0qLWfitNurs/Vp8D5mag_LI/AAAAAAAABSU/fIWXBRf_8tU/s1600/IMG_3068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0qLWfitNurs/Vp8D5mag_LI/AAAAAAAABSU/fIWXBRf_8tU/s320/IMG_3068.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>A small selection of Van Aken clay at Hobby Lobby</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">3</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Students interested in exploring Joan's claypainting style can find Van Aken clay at a Hobby Lobby near you as well as online at their website: <a href="http://www.vanaken.com/clay.htm" target="_blank">www.vanaken.com/clay.htm</a> or on Amazon.com. <br /><br />Always be sure to observe proper safety procedures whenever preparing the clay and mineral oil. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Image copyright Joan C. Gratz and used with permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">2. Image copyright GKIDS and used with permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">3. Image copyright Charles Wilson.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2016 Smudge Animation LLC, all rights reserved.</span><br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-31108364514196751122016-03-08T00:00:00.000-05:002016-05-10T10:42:43.098-04:00Women in Animation: Joan C. Gratz, Part 1<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R6LArojD3-M/Vp7-2JUq7nI/AAAAAAAABQc/-bayc6hXNKM/s1600/A%2BMouse%2Band%2BHer%2BTesla%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R6LArojD3-M/Vp7-2JUq7nI/AAAAAAAABQc/-bayc6hXNKM/s400/A%2BMouse%2Band%2BHer%2BTesla%2B2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>My Tesla - A love story of a mouse and her car</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />During the 2014 Ottawa International Animation Festival, I heard a rumor that Academy Award winning animator Joan C. Gratz was at the festival. As she was at the top of my list of women animators that I’ve wanted to meet for quite some time, I kept my ear to the ground in the hopes that I'd figure out where she would be. Well, during the Women in Animation mixer, I asked Gary Schwartz if Joan was there—thinking that if she'd be anywhere at the fest, it would be at the mixer (and if anyone would know if she was there, he would). Gary said that he thought she had been there but had left. Fair enough. So I went to the evening screening and sat down in the Bytowne theater with a friend from Grad School. Not five minutes later, a woman with the nametag "Joan C. Gratz" sat down in the seat in front of us. Serendipity at Ottawa strikes again! Having first seen Joan’s work back in 1988, this was an interview worth waiting for and it’s my pleasure to share it with you. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Your website said that you started working with Will Vinton back in '77, was that your first entry into the animation industry? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> Working with Will Vinton was my first job with regular hours and a small salary. I developed my animated paintings while in architecture school. My work in film predates my job at WVP by about 12 years. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZf_z03nQSc/Vp7_FJtnbjI/AAAAAAAABQk/-vOZZynj7h8/s1600/mona%2Blisa%2B4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZZf_z03nQSc/Vp7_FJtnbjI/AAAAAAAABQk/-vOZZynj7h8/s200/mona%2Blisa%2B4.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase&nbsp;</i> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> Did you show him examples of your clay-painting and he immediately saw a place where you could use that in his films? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> No, two of my unemployed architecture classmates met Will Vinton at a party. They had no particular interest or experience with animation, but ended up working with Will for many years. They were finishing up on Rip Van Winkle and just needed someone for a couple months. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> What made you choose animation as a major course of study? You mentioned that you went to school for architecture. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qk3UtC25xBs/Vp7_VHJaFxI/AAAAAAAABQs/E5O89pA4Eac/s1600/lost%2Band%2Bfound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qk3UtC25xBs/Vp7_VHJaFxI/AAAAAAAABQs/E5O89pA4Eac/s320/lost%2Band%2Bfound.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Lost and Found</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>JCG:</b> I do not have a background in animation. After I received a degree in art from UCLA and not wanting a job, I enrolled in Architecture school at the University of Oregon. While there I began painting again. Rather than having stacks of paintings, I started filming my progress on a single canvas. I was using a regular eight camera which didn’t even take single frames. It didn’t initially occur to me that I was making an animated film since I had always associated animation with working on cels in factory-like situations. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Now is that pretty much the key to your process: it's more of a stream-of-consciousness or do you plan out like the cel animators do? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> It depends on the job. If I have a client, I will do a complete storyboard with claypaintings of the key images. With ‘The Prophet’ and an earlier film ‘The Creation’, I was working with a script so the timing and images were worked out in advance. For personal projects, my method is much looser and more surprising to me. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Now just a quick technical question. The only reference I found to your claypainting process is that you use plasticine clay that's heated up and mixed with mineral oil, is this correct? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> Yeah. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gZgBoZOB7Q4/Vp7_f88K2mI/AAAAAAAABQ0/BNqP9LaxmyU/s1600/kubla%2Bkhan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gZgBoZOB7Q4/Vp7_f88K2mI/AAAAAAAABQ0/BNqP9LaxmyU/s320/kubla%2Bkhan.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kubla Khan</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>CW:</b> Just any mineral oil, anything special? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> No, I get it at the drugstore because I think it's generally used as a laxative or something. And then when I'm checking out I always feel like I should say " Oh, it's not for constipation it's for my art." <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> The plasticine, any particular brand you like working with? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> It goes by different names but it's basically kids plasticine modeling clay. I think maybe now it's called "Van Aken" or something like that. Just any meltable clay. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> When you say meltable, you just heat it up on the stove? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> The desired hardness or softness of the clay depends on if I am sculpting or painting with it. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cw7P3dIbs5Y/Vp8Ajlz8sBI/AAAAAAAABRA/SZqwOntkhNs/s1600/mona%2Blisa%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cw7P3dIbs5Y/Vp8Ajlz8sBI/AAAAAAAABRA/SZqwOntkhNs/s400/mona%2Blisa%2B2.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b>CW:</b> It's been reported that Mona Lisa took you ten years to complete. On average how long does it take you to produce one of your films? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> Well, it really depends. 'Mona Lisa' was a ten year process. The first seven doing research and limiting the scope of the project. I received a 20K grant from the American Film Institute which has a two year time limit, so that was a great incentive to finish the animation. The actual animation time was about two - three years. Now because I do all the post myself and there is no lab work or optical printing, the process has become so much cheaper and faster. The actual animation time is the same. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Martine Chartrand said a very similar statement about that, but she made the point that because she's working directly under the camera it's almost impossible to take on interns to help with the work. <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> I have never used an intern or had someone work on my claypainted films. The impossibility of this makes the technique so appealing. I have directed others in clay puppet commercials and did mentor a back-lite claypainter for Vinton’s Christmas special. The back-lite technique was developed by Ishu Patel at the NFB. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Since you're doing both independent work and commercial work, which one do you prefer? <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JKgOhbTMUDE/Vp8Bjjqht3I/AAAAAAAABRI/qFdRCzv-_Cs/s1600/mona%2Blisa%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="137" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JKgOhbTMUDE/Vp8Bjjqht3I/AAAAAAAABRI/qFdRCzv-_Cs/s200/mona%2Blisa%2B3.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mona Lisa Descending A Staircase</i>&nbsp; <span style="font-size: xx-small;">1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>JCG:</b> I don't know if you can really make that comparison because for one you get a whole lot of money and for the other you have complete freedom. Now, the budgets for commercials have gone way down and most animated commercials are CG so I haven't been doing much commercial work lately. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> Are you finding that the demand for claypainting commercials has been influenced by computer animation? <br /><br /><b>JCG:</b> There have never been many painterly commercials at any time. Possibly even fewer commercials shot directly under the camera. <br /><br /><b>CW:</b> So it's not something that you could track--whether it waxed or waned based on introduction of technology or individual tastes. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><b>JCG:</b> I'm just not that interested in commercials to follow what the trends are. It's something that you do and then it's done and then you're rich and you move on. I've done a couple commercials that I really liked--one was for United and one was for Coke. And then a couple were for Wishbone salad dressing. But then there's many others that I'd just as soon forget about. Not that they were terrible but they were of no particular interest to me. <br /><center>* * *</center><br />Tune in next week for part two of Joan's Interview where we discuss more of her independent films and talk about her work on the recent animated feature: "Kahlil Gibran's the Prophet". <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Image copyright Joan C. Gratz and used with permission.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2016 Smudge Animation LLC, all rights reserved.</span><br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-72829881749814192742015-12-08T23:22:00.000-05:002016-03-22T23:23:18.282-04:00Women in Animation: 'Canadian Animation Resources'NOTE: This post originally appeared on my Smudge Animation site on March 31st, 2015. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GKC5NGbaAqs/VRrspSRBJwI/AAAAAAAABGE/TteY3nou-_4/s1600/Canadian-Animation%2Bbg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GKC5NGbaAqs/VRrspSRBJwI/AAAAAAAABGE/TteY3nou-_4/s1600/Canadian-Animation%2Bbg.jpg" height="92" width="320" /></a></div><br />Well, I'm sorry to say that my last interview for this month isn't finished yet. So, I'll be posting my final interview for the month a bit later and will cross-post it on my social media sites. Apologies for missing the mark, sometimes life just gets too busy. But I promise you, it'll be worth the wait!<br /><br />However, as I just got back from Schoolism.com's workshop weekend in Toronto, this seems like an appropriate time to talk about another valuable resource for researchers looking for that elusive bit of information on woman animators: the Canadian Animation <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/" target="_blank">website</a> and <a href="http://www.canadiananimationblog.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>.<br /><br />Operated by my friend and fellow <a href="http://www.tais.ca/" target="_blank">Toronto Animated Image Society</a> member, Grayden Laing, the <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/" target="_blank">Canadian Animation</a> website and <a href="http://www.canadiananimationblog.com/" target="_blank">Canadian Animation Blog</a> have a plethora of interviews with animators from the Great White North. His blog includes many prominent woman animators like:<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimationblog.com/2014/10/canadian-interview-sam-decoste.html" target="_blank">Sam Decoste</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimationblog.com/2014/09/interviews-torill-kove-discusses-her.html" target="_blank">Torill Kove</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimationblog.com/2013/07/animator-profile-jodi-sandler.html" target="_blank">Jodi Sandler</a>, and <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimationblog.com/2012/09/gobelins-school-of-animation-moira.html?q=interviews" target="_blank">Moira Marguin</a>. <br /><br />Additionally, his <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/" target="_blank">Canadian Animation</a> website has "Artist of the Day" posts for animators like:<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/09/artist-of-day-katie-shanahan.html" target="_blank">Katie Shanahan</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/10/artist-lynn-dana-wilton.html" target="_blank">Lynn Dana Wilton</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/10/canadian-animator-nicole-hewat.html" target="_blank">Nicole Hewat</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/10/canadian-animator-marie-valade.html" target="_blank">Marie Valade</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/10/canadian-animator-rachel-moore_21.html" target="_blank">Rachel Moore</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/10/canadian-animator-kathy-macdonald.html" target="_blank">Kathy Macdonald</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/11/canadian-animator-carla-veldman.html" target="_blank">Carla Veldman</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2014/12/canadian-animation-janice-schulman.html" target="_blank">Janice Schulman</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2015/01/canadian-animators-gwyneth-mitchell.html" target="_blank">Gwyneth Mitchell</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2015/01/Canadian-Illustrators-Jessika-von-Innerebner.html" target="_blank">Jessika von Innerebner</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2015/01/Canadian-Animators-Hilary-Moses.html" target="_blank">Hilary Moses</a>, <br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2015/02/Canadian-Animator-Llillian-Chan.html" target="_blank">Lillian Chan</a>, and<br />- <a href="http://www.canadiananimation.com/2015/03/animator-samantha-youssef.html" target="_blank">Samantha Youssef</a>. <br /><br />If you keep an eye out for them, you're sure to run across people like Grayden who are working hard to bring recognition to animators, both women and men, and both well-known as well as those not-so-well-known. But rather than just relying on interviewers and bloggers, those interested in this facet of the animation world should not be afraid to get out there and find their own opportunities to meet these women of animation.<br /><br />Case in point: this past weekend, I made a nine-hour round-trip drive to Toronto.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.schoolism.com/">Schoolism.com</a> held a two-day, live workshop with artists and animators discussing their careers and lavishing advice on people who want to improve their skills. I went there to hear <i>Brave </i>director <a href="http://brenda-chapman.com/" target="_blank">Brenda Chapman</a>'s presentation with her husband <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0510674/" target="_blank">Kevin Lima</a>. After meeting Ms. Chapman on Saturday night, the next day we were all treated to a three-hour presentation where power-couple Kevin and Brenda talked about their personal history, the ups-and-downs of the animation industry, how the industry has changed across the span of their careers, and much, much more! As a special treat, they even showed their CalArts student films. Was it worth the time and money to make the drive? You bet it was! Even if I wasn't working on a project detailing the history of women in animation, the information that Brenda and Kevin provided was the kind of first hand data that students who want to work in the Hollywood animation industry <u>need</u> to hear.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tPMI8ferrGQ/VRr38_RPdHI/AAAAAAAABGU/lf-uRK5jl38/s1600/ChucknBrenda.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tPMI8ferrGQ/VRr38_RPdHI/AAAAAAAABGU/lf-uRK5jl38/s1600/ChucknBrenda.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting with Brenda Chapman</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Yes. Sometimes those opportunities may appear a little too far to visit. Yes. Sometimes it's going to cost you a pretty penny to attend events like this. But if you look carefully, you can find opportunities closer to home.<br /><br />Case in point: Alma, Michigan is a 45-minute drive from my house. Back in February, I attended a small student-run anime convention at Alma College and got to meet animator, studio owner, producer, voice actress, and stunt-woman <a href="http://saikostudios.com/">Samantha Inoue-Harte</a> (talk about a modern-day "Renaissance woman"!).<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9dMbv_RKXJs/VRtjIgX8K5I/AAAAAAAABGo/I3IR4bjHDbU/s1600/Samantha.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9dMbv_RKXJs/VRtjIgX8K5I/AAAAAAAABGo/I3IR4bjHDbU/s1600/Samantha.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Samantha teaching me what a 'glomp' is.</td></tr></tbody></table>Filled with boundless energy and an enthusiasm that I have only seen matched by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0153617/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1" target="_blank">Martine Chartrand</a>, Samantha turned AlmaCon into a four-hour tornado of funny stories, a realistic vision of what it's like to work in the animation (and film) industry, and tips on improving our skills as she showed us first hand how she animated characters for Disney's <i>Lilo and Stitch</i> television show. It's not often that you get the chance to watch an animator at work but Samantha turned it into a spectator sport where you're laughing while you're learning. I started animating over twenty years ago and her two-hour animation workshop hammered home the fact that there's always something more that I can learn about our craft.<br /><br />Need another example? No problem. In a little over a week, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3848134/" target="_blank">Natasha Allegri</a>, the creator of "Bee and Puppycat" will be speaking in Detroit at the <a href="http://www.midwestmediaexpo.com/guests.php" target="_blank">Midwest Media Expo</a>. Will I be braving the throngs of cosplayers to hear her speak? After hearing her presentation at last year's TAAFI festival, you bet I will! And I hope to see many of you up-and-coming animators there too.<br /><br />So keep an eye out for opportunities (both local and distant) to connect with your favorite animators, as well as those that you haven't heard of before. I guarantee that you'll be glad that you took the time to listen to their wisdom and experience. Whether it's our history or our craft, I'm always learning something new from animators who are kind enough to share their experiences in this roller-coaster ride we call 'animated film'.<br /><br /><br />Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-11056865861191953812015-11-10T00:00:00.000-05:002016-03-22T23:21:17.153-04:00Women in Animation: Blue Sky "Crew Stories"<b>NOTE:</b> This post originally appeared on my Smudge Animation site on March 24th, 2015. <br /><br />Sorry I'm a couple days late with this post, I was at the local Anime convention this weekend, marveling at the fact that among the plethora of cosplayers with characters that I didn't recognize, I saw a guy dressed as Dr. Venture from <i>the Venture Bros.</i>, two girls dressed as 'Bee' from Natasha Allegri's <i>Bee and Puppycat</i> and no less than three 'CatBugs' from Pendleton Ward's <i>Bravest Warriors</i>. Always nice to see some American animation slip into the fandom at the Cons and even more so to see a woman show creator get a little recognition from her fans.<br /><br />Back to the interviews.<br /><br />I'm going to do something a little different this year. Several times a year, I am contacted by young ladies who have seen these interviews, or the posts on my sister site: '<a href="http://www.womenanimators.info/" target="_blank">the Women of Animated Film</a>', or have sat through one of my history of women in animation lectures. They usually ask me for information regarding a specific woman animator for a report they're writing for school or are working on their own historical 'women in animation' sites and ask where I get my info. So, I'd like to expand this year's interviews by providing a little insight into where I get some of my information as well as show what other studios are doing to archive their corner of the industry and encourage the next generation of animators.<br /><br />Two years ago, I was interviewing a professional acquaintance of mine, who happens to work at <a href="http://blueskystudios.com/" target="_blank">Blue Sky Studios</a>, about his history in the animation industry. When the subject turned to my interviews with women animators, he turned me onto a little side-project that they do at Blue Sky called "Crew Stories". <br /><br />Blue Sky does not limit their interviews to just women animators but expands their coverage to include both men and women who work on their films in various roles. Additionally, they produce both short video clips and more long form written interviews for this project. The written interviews of women working on their films are linked below: <br /><ul><li>Animator <a href="http://blueskystudios.com/working-here/crew-stories/theresas-story/" target="_blank">Theresa Adolph</a></li><li>Lead Materials Technical Director <a href="http://blueskystudios.com/working-here/crew-stories/diana-story-copy/" target="_blank">Diana Diriwaechter</a></li><li>Lighting Supervisor <a href="http://blueskystudios.com/working-here/crew-stories/jeeyun-story/" target="_blank">Jeeyun Sung Chisholm</a></li></ul>Followed by links for their video series on Vimeo called "21 seconds with..." <br /><ul><li>Production Manager <a href="https://vimeo.com/80993464" target="_blank">Denise Rottina</a></li><li>Lead Materials Technical Director/Character Artist <a href="https://vimeo.com/84148004" target="_blank">Nikki Tomaino</a></li></ul>With a longer form video interview with their Lead Sculptor <a href="https://vimeo.com/79820256" target="_blank">Vicki Saulls</a>.<br /><br />Personally, I migrate towards the written interviews because they get a little more in depth with regards to professional history and advice that they'd give people who want to work in their particular segment of the field of animation. But all the interviews that Blue Sky have done are invaluable tools for learning more about the industry and provide us with a look behind the curtain at the roles where women are working.Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-27369602335099011532015-10-06T00:00:00.000-04:002016-03-22T23:19:09.283-04:00Women in Animation: Monica Brujenes<b>NOTE:</b> This post originally appeared on my Smudge Animation site on March 13th, 2015. <BR><BR>In the Fall of 2013, I met this vibrant young lady from Wisconsin through an e-mail that she sent to ASIFA/Central--inquiring about membership in our organization. With the core group of our members living in Michigan, she quickly became another one of our far-flung members. But Monica hasn't let distance separate her from being a part of the animation community. One of those rare individuals who immediately asks 'what can I do to help', Monica pounced on the chance to help make ASIFA a better organization--notably by volunteering to work on the recently relaunched ASIFA Magazine. During her interview, my expectations were immediately exceeded as I encountered someone with a wealth of experiences that you wouldn't expect to hear from someone so young. The interview only took thirty minutes, but before it was over, I was left wishing for more time to hear just one more story. Hopefully, sometime in the future, we'll see her make the trek across Lake Michigan and show up at a future Animator's Retreat so everyone at ASIFA/Central can experience her enthusiasm for animation first hand. <br /><br />Kicking off 2015's interviews, it's a pleasure to introduce Monica Brujenes. <br /><br /><center>* * *</center><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LndsyGpUkiY/VPaR8fYg-8I/AAAAAAAABEQ/IJWz1ex-F9o/s1600/MonicaBruenjes1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LndsyGpUkiY/VPaR8fYg-8I/AAAAAAAABEQ/IJWz1ex-F9o/s1600/MonicaBruenjes1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Monica Brujenes</td></tr></tbody></table><b>Q:</b> What is your current job description?<br /><br /><b>A:</b> Freelance artist and owner of my own company (<a href="http://www.subarashiistudio.com/" target="_blank">Subarashii Studio</a>).<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> How long have you worked in the animation industry?<br /><br /><b>A: </b>Not very long. Only since about 2012, that's when I graduated with my Masters Degree. And that's when I started freelancing as an animator. Before that, I was already freelancing, but just for graphic design and illustration work. I studied in Japan in 2006 as an exchange student and I worked on my first short film when I was there doing that. So yeah, I've been animating throughout college, that's when I started animating. But, I didn't start taking on paid work until after I graduated.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Did you know that you wanted to be an animator when you were in Japan?<br /><br /><b>A: </b>Yeah. Like ever since High School. That's when I decided I wanted to be an animator and I started looking into the different jobs in animation and trying to find out how I could learn animation. So yeah, I of course grew up watching cartoons and never stopped watching cartoons. Growing up I was surrounded by American cartoons but I always kind of was interested, if I ever found out about cartoons in different countries I'd get really excited about that. I didn't learn about anime until High School and it was through friends--they told me about Sailor Moon, a starting anime for a lot of us.<br /><br /><b>Q:</b> What roles have you performed during your career in animation?<br /><br /><b>A: </b>I've done everything. Mostly I've been working on small projects where I get to be the one woman show, essentially. I've done a couple commercials. For the one, I did for the small business 'Event Stagers'. She was a wedding and special event stager (providing the design, set up and decorating of special events), she had a rough idea what she wanted the commercial to communicate. But I essentially wrote up a little storyboard and then went through the whole process of boarding it and animating it for her.&nbsp; I even added the sound too and I realized that I really don't like doing that at all! I realized how difficult it is adding the sound and trying to get professional quality, so I think that, moving forward, I'm going to try to get more help in that aspect of it. I've read a couple books on sound design, but it's just one of those things, when you're doing everything yourself it gets to be a bit much. And after doing that for a few projects, I'm thinking "yeah, next time it'd be nice to have some help with that aspect cause it's one of my weaker areas." I'm better at the pre-production and animating definitely.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DQM4KpWNFi0" width="445"></iframe> <b>Q: </b>What made you choose animation as a major course of study? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>It was a slow build up. I can't remember a defining moment other than I remember at one point I started asking my mom questions about how animation is made, like all of a sudden I got really curious, like 'I know that they draw it but how? How do they get that many drawings and how do they make it look smooth?' And so, yeah, there was a point where I was just... 'I really wanted to know how it was done' and I made up my mind that I was going to figure it out. So, yeah, I would say It's just a passion, I just love cartoons and always have. <br /><br />When I studied in Japan, I met a lot of Japanese artists there who didn't like the Japanese art but were fascinated with Disney and Pixar. So they were really interested in what I was doing, which was pretty cool. They would say that my style is very American and looks like Disney and then I'd come back home and my friends back here in America would say "oh your style looks very Japanese." I always thought that was kind of funny. <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Have you worked for studios or as an independent? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>For animation it's always been independent so far. I would like to work for a studio at some point, but it just hasn't happened yet. I did have an internship with Wildstorm comics when I was doing my undergrad. It wasn't animation it was with comics, but that was a really good experience. I was in the production department so they were responsible for all the prepress production, everything that goes into putting the books together, like compiling the artwork with the lettering files, sometimes putting together the inks and colors, eventually you get all the elements and put it into a book. And then, at the time, they also had their CMX Comics which was their Manga division. And so I helped do some of the work for that--kind of converting the books from Japanese to American. We had to scan in the Japanese pages, clean them up, delete the Japanese text so the English text could be put in, and in a few rare cases, edit the artwork to make it age-appropriate for the target audience 'cause you know values are different in Japan. I remember there was this one that I worked on that I think was called 'King of Cards' and one of the characters was topless, so I had to draw a bra on her and make it look like it fit in with the Manga style, stuff like that. <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Are you doing more personal work right now? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>Yeah, at the moment actually I have been working on some ideas for animated TV shows and I'm just getting ready this weekend--I'm leaving to go to Kidscreen in Miami. There's this big industry conference so I'm going to take my ideas and pitch them and get some feedback. One is the preschool show called 'Penguin and Peep' and the other one I've been working on is called 'Moosebear' and that one is for ages six to eight. So I'm just excited for that. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w2lCrb_DfLM/VPaTY9x-xxI/AAAAAAAABEc/yshPk-P5wUY/s1600/SubarashiiLOGOyellowbubble_72dpi.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w2lCrb_DfLM/VPaTY9x-xxI/AAAAAAAABEc/yshPk-P5wUY/s1600/SubarashiiLOGOyellowbubble_72dpi.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.subarashiistudio.com/" target="_blank">Subarashii Studio</a></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Q:</b> So Subarishii is what you're going down there with? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>Yeah, it's just the name of my company. I've been in the process of figuring out where I want to go with it and definitely at the moment, I'm using it for pre-production&nbsp;work and content development.&nbsp; Or, how to attain my goals because I've always had in the back of my head: "oh it would be great to have my own animation studio/production studio." Subarishii means 'wonderful' or 'splendid' in Japanese so I though it fit with my art style which is very cute and happy. <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Can you talk about your reasons for starting Subarashii? As a content developer, are you trying to work outside of the established studio system to bring your creations to life? Or did you have the side idea of 'if this doesn't work out I can go to alternate funding sources like KickStarter or IndieGogo"? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>It's been a process of me trying to figure out how to do... what exactly I want to do.<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IV4Q5m-isfA/VPaUC61PiCI/AAAAAAAABEk/egLYQN2SNYk/s1600/penguinpeepLogo1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IV4Q5m-isfA/VPaUC61PiCI/AAAAAAAABEk/egLYQN2SNYk/s1600/penguinpeepLogo1.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.subarashiistudio.com/Characters/penguinpeep.html" target="_blank">Penguin &amp; Peep!</a></td></tr></tbody></table>The ideas I'm working on now, like Penguin and Peep, I originally had thought about just going ahead and animating it doing shorts and putting them up on YouTube and getting it out there and seeing what would happen. <br /><br />If you go to the conventions you can talk to them and share your ideas, so I decided before I just jump the gun and spend the time animating--'cause animating obviously takes a long time to do it well--that I would get some feelers out there and see what kind of response I get from the ideas and go from there to see what the next step is; whether or not someone is interested in helping me with funding or distribution or helping co-produce my shows or if not, then maybe I take a step back and do think about KickStarter or, you know, plugging away on something on my own. <br /><br /><b>Q: </b>You're currently doing magazine editing work for ASIFA International, you're a member of ASIFA/Central, and you've started your own local life drawing club. How important do you think it is for animators to participate in organizations or start their own if none locally are available? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>I was trying it out [Eau Claire Artist's Drawing Night], I haven't been doing it so far yet this year because I didn't get quite the response I was hoping for. I suppose it has to be done on an individual basis if you're into that thing, I personally think it's important for me because I've always felt that anytime I could get connected with other artists and be encouraged to practice more and have opportunities to practice drawing and talking more about animation has just made me a better and better artist. So I see the value in it definitely. <br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-flr6k9CUDTI/VPetFDHjWrI/AAAAAAAABFA/2yteeBV6SUU/s1600/MBAlese.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-flr6k9CUDTI/VPetFDHjWrI/AAAAAAAABFA/2yteeBV6SUU/s1600/MBAlese.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.subarashiistudio.com/Characters/moosebear.html" target="_blank">My Moosebear</a></td></tr></tbody></table><b>Q:</b> Given that the industry is now so heavily integrated with computer technology, how important do you think it is (if at all) for students of animation to learn classical techniques and non-computer animation styles: stop-motion, drawing, sand animation, painting, etc.? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>I think it's really important actually to at least start out having a foundation in some kind of more tactile medium because it's just going to make you that much better when you go into the computer and work digitally. One of my instructors at the Academy of Art University said "do everything as if by hand." Meaning that even when you are working in the computer, put that same care and attention to detail and thought into what you're doing in the computer as you would if you were working in another medium by hand. So I think that using the computer does affect your thought process<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp; </span>a little bit differently, it's kind of hard to explain. <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> Do you think there's sort of a detachment? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>I'm not even sure what it is, I just know that when you work by hand, sometimes--at least for me--that's the best way to learn. Even just drawing by hand on real paper is different for me than when I draw with the stylus in the computer. Sometimes it's just quicker to get the idea out on paper than through that screen. But yeah, I definitely think it makes you a better artist. Anytime you can work with real media, it gives you that foundation so that you know how the real materials work and then when you go into the computer and you try to simulate a more hand-drawn look, you're able to do that. <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> What do you think is the biggest obstacle to women who want to pursue a career in animation? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>I'm not sure if there's a really big obstacle for women more so than men at the moment. I feel like we have pretty good opportunities and I don't know of anybody at least in my classes or from my generation that's really come up with any strong opposition. I would say the biggest obstacle is the same obstacle that anybody has getting into animation--it's just a hard field to get in to. The hard part is developing your talent and breaking in. <br /><br /><b>Q:</b> If your daughter said that she wanted to work in animation, what advice would you give her? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>I would say "practice, practice, practice!" "Don't give up" and "find a good mentor"--which of course if it was my daughter, it would be "me" (just kidding!). I would say the most important thing is practice... and never forget to keep it fun too, because animation is a fun business. <br /><br /><center><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G5UeGQI2B9I/VPer_Y-QBVI/AAAAAAAABE4/nS0HR365EtA/s1600/Penguin_Peep_AprilShowers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G5UeGQI2B9I/VPer_Y-QBVI/AAAAAAAABE4/nS0HR365EtA/s1600/Penguin_Peep_AprilShowers.jpg" width="400" /></a></center><br /><b>Q:</b> What is the most important thing that authority figures (parents/teachers/professors) can do to encourage girls who are considering a career in animation? <br /><br /><b>A: </b>Again, I would say the most important thing is to develop their talent. Take classes in drawing or sculpture. Another thing would be to introduce them to other artists. My dad, when I was a little girl, he took me to the San Diego Comic Con cause we lived in San Diego at the time. And I remember going to Don Bluth's booth and getting to meet him in person and he was really nice to me and encouraged me and said something like 'oh you're into animation, oh that's so great.' I was kind of like awestruck as a little girl going to Comic Con and seeing how there are real artists, they make cartoons! And that kept me going, so I would say encourage them go to the conventions and meet professionals who are doing what you want to do and just keep working on improving your art. <br /><br /><center>* * *</center><br />Monica's work can be viewed on her company website "Subarashii Studio" at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.subarashiistudio.com" target="_blank">www.subarashiistudio.com</a> and her professional website at <a href="https://www.blogger.com/www.artistmonica.com" target="_blank">www.artistmonica.com</a>. She has uploaded her demo reel onto <a href="https://vimeo.com/105297646" target="_blank">Vimeo</a>. <br /><br /><i>The images and animations used in this blog entry are copyright <a href="http://www.artistmonica.com/" target="_blank">Monica Brujenes</a> and used with her permission.</i>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-71134487537850909172015-09-08T19:10:00.000-04:002015-09-08T19:35:12.981-04:00"A Cartoon Girl’s Secret Guide to Developing Kids’ Comedy Series That Sell!" by Rita Street<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--E0UtZbik-s/Ve9qTHtmUsI/AAAAAAAABL4/2WyjraBsPRw/s1600/Rita%2BStreet.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--E0UtZbik-s/Ve9qTHtmUsI/AAAAAAAABL4/2WyjraBsPRw/s200/Rita%2BStreet.png" width="160" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rita Street &amp; "Ruby Gloom"</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pub/rita-street/0/637/576" target="_blank">Rita Street</a> has just published&nbsp;a book on animation series development, titled:&nbsp;<i>A Cartoon Girl's Secret Guide to Developing Kids' Comedy Series That Sell!</i> <br /><br />Executive Producer of Cartoon Network's "<i>Hero:108</i>", Founder of <a href="http://www.womeninanimation.org/" target="_blank">Women in Animation</a>, and President of her own company '<a href="http://radarcartoons.businesscatalyst.com/index.html" target="_blank">Radar Cartoons</a>', Rita has taken time out of her busy schedule to encapsulate over two decades of experience in the entertainment industry creating, pitching, and developing animated shows for children. Her book covers the process of series development from brainstorming to final pitch--including some very important, entertainment industry specific details that I have rarely seen in other sources outside of festival workshops: like the importance of 'Loglines'. Or the differences between a 'Sales/Pitch Bible' and a 'Production Bible' and where is each used and why. Or even lessons on etiquette when you've finally received that coveted pitch meeting (hint: one of the most important is "Do your research!" There's a lot more to it than that, but I'll let Rita explain that in Chapter 5).<br /><br />From her <a href="http://radarcartoons.businesscatalyst.com/index.html" target="_blank">website</a>:<br /><br /><i>"During the last decade I’ve landed more than 1,200 pitch meetings with network and indie development execs. Of those 1,200 pitches I’ve sold a record 15 shows into development, four of which have come out of development and into production. <br /><br />This is literally my brain-download on how to develop an animated comedy TV series for kids 6-11 years of age (think: “SpongeBob SquarePants”). <br /><br />If you want to pitch a show that has real potential for a sale, follow these secret rules."</i><br /><br />While her focus is on the kids market, a lot of the advice I've read so far can be adapted to developing an animated series for other age groups. Best of all, she is currently giving away a PDF version of her book&nbsp;for free--a great price for all you animation&nbsp;students! So don't wait, head over to her website&nbsp;and take advantage of her knowledge and experience to help develop your own animated series.<br /><br />You can download her book from the following <a href="http://radarcartoons.businesscatalyst.com/index.html" target="_blank">link</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j6Uy2RkQ5fc/Ve9p8M7N8UI/AAAAAAAABLs/ugcPFf9qaA8/s1600/Cartoon%2BGirls%2BGuide.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-j6Uy2RkQ5fc/Ve9p8M7N8UI/AAAAAAAABLs/ugcPFf9qaA8/s640/Cartoon%2BGirls%2BGuide.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">* images are copyright Rita Street and used with&nbsp;permission.</span></i>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-63421906152330241742015-08-31T00:11:00.000-04:002015-08-31T00:12:36.425-04:00Women Pioneers of Animated Film honored at AnnecyWell, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival has come and gone. As part of the focus on women animators, this year the festival bumpers created by the students at Gobelins l'ecole de l'image shone the much deserved spotlight on five women whose contributions to the art form helped pave the way for generations of women animators: <br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Blair" target="_blank">Mary Blair</a><br />An animator for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the Ub Iwerks studio before hiring on with Walt Disney, Mary Blair would lend her experienced eye to many classic films like <i>Dumbo</i>, <i>Lady and the Tramp</i>, <i>Cinderella</i>, and <i>Peter Pan</i> before working on the "It's a Small World" attraction (which would eventually end up at Disneyland). <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/131190143" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="445"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Lambart" target="_blank">Evelyn Lambart</a><br />Animator and technical director for the National Film Board of Canada, Lambart's career spanned thirty years at the NFB where she worked with Norman McLaren on films like <i>Begone Dull Care</i> and <i>A Chairy Tale</i>.<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/131181766" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="445"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_Reiniger" target="_blank">Lotte Reiniger</a><br />Creator of The <i>Adventures of Prince Achmed</i>, the oldest surviving animated feature (and arguably the first), animator Lotte Reiniger created over forty films and wrote several books on her silhouette animation technique. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/131071673" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="445"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Parker" target="_blank">Claire Parker</a><br />M.I.T. graduate, engineer, and animator, Claire Parker co-directed animated films like <i>Night on Bald Mountain</i> using the pinscreen animation technique co-created with her husband, Alexandre Alexieff. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/130958229" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="445"></iframe><br /><br /><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_de_Vere" target="_blank">Alison de Vere</a><br />Worthy of special note, British animator Alison de Vere was the first woman to win the Grand Prix at the Annecy festival (for her film <i>Mr. Pascal, ex æquo</i>). <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/130845842" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="445"></iframe>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-70088067172118209962015-07-12T13:48:00.000-04:002015-07-12T13:50:57.603-04:00Embroidermation - Nina Paley and Theodore GrayY'know, just when you think you've seen it all, someone comes up with another brilliant merger of a traditional medium and digital tools--in this case, using vector files as a template to create embroidered animation "cels". <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blog.ninapaley.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/068-640x521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.ninapaley.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/068-640x521.jpg" height="325" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from Nina Paley's Blog post: <a href="http://blog.ninapaley.com/2013/09/18/embroidermation-tree-of-life/" target="_blank">Embroidermation: Tree of Life</a></td></tr></tbody></table>Seen below, Nina Paley and Theodore Gray used this technique to assemble a test animation based off of a shot that Nina animated for her "<a href="http://blog.ninapaley.com/2013/09/18/embroidermation-tree-of-life/" target="_blank">Tree of Life</a>" sequence in the film Kahlil Gibran's 'The Prophet'. <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="365" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/74884738" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="445"></iframe> <br /><a href="https://vimeo.com/74884738">Embroidermation: Tree of Life</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/user2983855">Nina Paley</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Then, they went on to create another, complete, animated short using this technique and based on a children's song from the Jewish passover. You can view this animation below and learn more about the technique on Theodore's blog: "<a href="http://home.theodoregray.com/stitchblog/2015/7/10/embroidered-animation-finally" target="_blank">Theodore Gray</a>". <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/133054221" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <br />And if you read all the way to the end of his blog post, Nina and Theodore have released the embroidery files that they used to create the animation frames.Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-34236675398752142772015-06-01T16:38:00.002-04:002015-06-01T16:38:31.155-04:00Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet" at the Detroit Institute of Arts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fI19iJPRyAs/VWzCkSiltzI/AAAAAAAABHM/vNsQ0OfApow/s1600/the%2BProphet%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fI19iJPRyAs/VWzCkSiltzI/AAAAAAAABHM/vNsQ0OfApow/s320/the%2BProphet%2B1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />If you're in the Detroit area this Friday, June 5th, the Detroit Institute of Arts will be showing the animated feature film "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/KahlilGibransTheProphet" target="_blank"><i>The Prophet</i></a>" based on the poetry of <span><span class="r-i3XyGwnkQFLI">Lebanese author </span></span>Kahlil Gibran.<br /><br /><i>The Prophet</i> was produced by Salma Hayek and animated by Tomm Moore (<i>The Secret of Kells</i>), Bill Plympton (<i>Idiots and Angels</i>), Nina Paley (<i>Sita Sings the Blues</i>) and Academy Award Winner Joan C. Gratz (<i>Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase</i>), among others.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eMDCRm8N1mw/VWzCpdYszyI/AAAAAAAABHU/T8Q9BNhUods/s1600/the%2BProphet%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-eMDCRm8N1mw/VWzCpdYszyI/AAAAAAAABHU/T8Q9BNhUods/s320/the%2BProphet%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />This will be an outdoor screening, so bring a lawn chair or a blanket. Additionally, this is a free event! So there will be no charge to see the film.<br /><br />Details on the screening can be seen on the DIA <a href="http://www.dia.org/auxiliaries/event.aspx?id=5077&amp;iid=&amp;aux_id=14&amp;cid=100%20https://youtu.be/h9dY5zkwK5M" target="_blank">website</a>. There is a Jazz performance at 7 p.m. followed by the screening at sundown--which they have listed at 9:30 p.m.<br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h9dY5zkwK5M" width="445"></iframe> <br /><br />Hope to see some of you there. :)Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-31069454077092604192015-05-18T22:53:00.000-04:002015-05-18T22:55:38.660-04:00Halas & Batchelor, 75 years youngAs reported in the article "<a href="http://www.skwigly.co.uk/halas-and-batchelor-75-years-today/" target="_blank">Halas and Batchelor - 75 Years Old today!</a>" published by Skwigly Online Animation Magazine and written by Steve Henderson, today was the 75th anniversary* of the UK studio "Halas and Batchelor". <br /><br />From the Skwigly article: <br /><br />"To celebrate this anniversary of one of UK animation history’s most important studios, a new blog has been set up by Vivien Halas, manager of the Halas and Batchelor Collection, and Jez Stewart, animation curator at the BFI, that will chart the progression and selected highlights from the studio’s history over the next year." <br /><br />The link to the new blog is here: <a href="http://halasbatchelor75.co.uk/" target="_blank">halasbatchelor75.co.uk</a>. However, be sure to take a moment and look over the rest of the <a href="http://www.skwigly.co.uk/halas-and-batchelor-75-years-today/" target="_blank">article</a> for more wonderful tidbits about the history of one of Britain's largest animation studios.<br /><br />If you'd like to know more about Halas &amp; Batchelor, there are many resources listed on the <a href="http://www.halasandbatchelor.co.uk/" target="_blank">Halas &amp; Batchelor Collection website</a>. Two of my personal favorites are the mini documentaries published on YouTube by John and Joy's daughter Vivien Halas: "John Halas Remembered" (referenced in the Skwigly article), <br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FxAtZ2-O5N0" width="445"></iframe> <br /><br />and "Ode to Joy", which Vivien produced last year to commemorate what would have been her mother's 100th birthday.<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AN0897fFc3Y" width="445"></iframe> <br /><br />You'll find these mini-documentaries as well as films produced by Halas &amp; Batchelor on Vivien Halas' YouTube channel - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvq-1HSPcsNXUd04HGSD0gQ" target="_blank">the Halas &amp; Batchelor Collection</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>&nbsp;*May 14, 2015</i></span>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2083408761548133092.post-24417388553462311592015-03-24T10:11:00.002-04:002015-03-24T10:12:44.116-04:00International Women's Month InterviewsIt's March, and that means International Women's Day (or International Women's Month on my <a href="http://www.smudge.biz/" target="_blank">Smudge Animation</a> blog).<br /><br />If you don't want to wait for the interviews to be migrated over here, below are links to this year's interviews and information about Women working in the field of animation: <br /><br /><b>March 8</b><br />It's March, and that can mean only one thing: in honor of International Women's Day, I post interviews with women animators from across the wide spectrum of animated film. But there's a lot more going in the world of women in animation...<br /><br /><a href="http://smudgeanimation.blogspot.com/2015/03/women-in-animation-2015.html" target="_blank">http://smudgeanimation.blogspot.com/2015/03/women-in-animation-2015.html</a><br /><br /><center>* * *</center><br /><b>March 13</b><br />In the Fall of 2013, I met this vibrant young lady from Wisconsin through an e-mail that she sent to ASIFA/Central--inquiring about membership in our organization. With the core group of our members living in Michigan, she quickly became another one of our far-flung members. But Monica hasn't let distance separate her from being a part of the animation community. One of those rare individuals who immediately asks 'what can I do to help', Monica pounced on the chance to help make ASIFA a better organization--notably by volunteering to work on the recently relaunched ASIFA Magazine. During her interview, my expectations were immediately exceeded as I encountered someone with a wealth of experiences that you wouldn't expect to hear from someone so young. The interview only took thirty minutes, but before it was over, I was left wishing for more time to hear just one more story... <br /><br />Kicking off 2015's interviews, it's a pleasure to introduce Monica Brujenes. <br /><br /><a href="http://smudgeanimation.blogspot.com/2015/03/women-in-animation-monica-brujenes.html" target="_blank">http://smudgeanimation.blogspot.com/2015/03/women-in-animation-monica-brujenes.html</a><br /><br /><center>* * *</center><br /><b>March 24</b><br />I'm going to do something a little different this year. Several times a year, I am contacted by young ladies who have seen these interviews, or the posts on my sister site: 'the Women of Animated Film', or have sat through one of my history of women in animation lectures. They usually ask me for information regarding a specific woman animator for a report they're writing for school or are working on their own historical 'women in animation' sites and ask where I get my info... <br /><br /><a href="http://smudgeanimation.blogspot.com/2015/03/women-in-animation-blue-sky-crew-stories.html" target="_blank">http://smudgeanimation.blogspot.com/2015/03/women-in-animation-blue-sky-crew-stories.html</a>Charles Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17223232596337545871noreply@blogger.com